Comic Books, "New" Doctor Who 20th Anniversary, D&D 2024, and Tariffs - Episode 282 - 4/26/2025
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Shane waxes eloquent (ok, he might rant mildly) on several aspects of the mainstream comic book industry including the direct market business model, variant covers, multiple characters with the same name, and constant status quo changes (plus the overuse of the word “iconic” these days, which isn’t comics-related but Shane kvetches about it anyway). A mini-review and comparison of DC’s Absolute Universe and Marvel’s Ultimate Universe (which one does Shane like best). Doctor Who has been back on the air for 20 years! A sincere shout-out to Toby Hadoke. An ailing Doctor Who super fan,...
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Banquet For Fools With Game Developers Hannah And Joseph Williams - Episode 281 - 11/26/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Game developers Hannah and Joseph Williams join to chat about their new “Dark Crystal”-like CRPG Banquet For Fools. Shane jokingly laments a missing element from the game, but Joseph promises they won’t duck out from putting it in. Now that ten years have passed, how do they feel Serpent in the Staglands performed? Thoughts on Mechajammer (previously Copper Dreams) and the hopes versus the reality. The pros, cons and pitfalls of Early Access. Shane gets recruited as a voice actor. A tangent into severe weather and the importance of escapism. Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #281 -...
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Star Trek Video Games With Mat Bradley-Tschirgi - Episode 280 - 10/23/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Star Trek Video Games: An Unofficial Guide to the Final Frontier with author Mat Bradley-Tschirgi. There are a LOT of Star Trek video games and Mat had some hard decisions and set boundaries on what games to cover in his book (by the way, a “notable” game doesn’t necessarily mean a good game). What is Mat’s favorite and least favorite Star Trek game? Star Trek has one of the saddest stories of vaporware in PC gaming. Mat had an unusual entry into Star Trek fandom, but it still grabbed him. What are Shane and Mat’s thoughts on some of the more recent Star Trek TV shows? What is one...
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RPG & Gaming Scholar Jon Peterson - Episode 279 - 9/27/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
RPG and tabletop gaming historian Jon Peterson returns for a fantastic conversation on D&D and RPG history, and his related current books and projects. A new edition of Playing at the World and Dungeons & Dragons - the Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977 are on the shelves. D&D 4E has its hardcore fans. Jon has a seriously impressive collection of documents related to RPG history. Jon’s first on-screen RPG game, ever. Does the role of the Caller in D&D get an unfair reputation (and what exactly does the Caller do)? DNA from non-RPGs like Outdoor Survival made it into early...
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RPG Designer Merle M. Rasmussen - Episode 278 - 8/14/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Merle M. Rasmussen, the man in the tux himself, joins to talk about the Top Secret RPG and his game design career. What was his first (mistaken) understanding of what D&D was? Memories of working at TSR. A no-nonsense discussion about the financials of his agreement with TSR for Top Secret. Financial lessons he has learned in his career. The perils of lead poisoning in making miniatures (and accidental improvised bombs). Jon Peterson’s Quagmire! D&D module article and Merle’s involvement in making it happen. Top Secret set multiple RPG precedents. What existing RPG was used for Top...
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Zombie Movies with Chris Holmes and Mike Stewart - Episode 277 - 7/22/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Shane, Chris Holmes, and Mike Stewart aka DM Mike (Save for Half podcast, Found in the Ruins podcast) shamble relentlessly through over 40 zombie and zombie-ish flicks in their inhuman hunger for horror. Plus a brief detour into the best on-screen Joker and multiple bad zombie jokes. True or false: Marcel Marceau starred in a zombie flick. What is Shane’s most annoying zombie movie? What would you do if you were the last person on Earth and could do whatever you want? Shane offers a rare trigger warning. Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #277 - 7/22/2024 Like what you hear? Support Shane Plays...
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Comics & Comicsgate With Preston Poulter - Episode 276 - 4/29/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Preston Poulter of Pocket Jacks Comics joins to talk comic books, the current status of his Comicsgate trademark lawsuit, and his reasons for pursuing it. Plus the economics and challenges of self-publishing comics, some tabletop RPG chat and we learn what a pocket jack is. Shane gets upstaged during the bad joke of the week. Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #276 - 4/29/2024 Like what you hear? Support Shane Plays Geek Talk on Patreon! Listen to the Shane Plays Geek Talk podcast on YouTube, SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play Music, Amazon Music, Podbean and Stitcher (and other fine, fine podcast...
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MASSIVE GEEKOUT With David Finn Of Signal Of Doom - Episode 275 - 3/29/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Wide-ranging geekout with David Finn of Signal of Doom!! Lots of comic book and MCU chat (like, a lot). Pi Day. Doctor Who, old and new. Google Gemini vs. ChatGPT. Judge Dredd satirizes fascism but can tell multi-layered stories. Godzilla finally wins an Oscar. Godzilla as a metaphor. The essence of the Punisher. It’s been a while, but Shane rants a bit (and David loves it). The Krakoan X-Men scare Shane and David’s ready for the era to move on. Current Beast makes David pine for Dark Beast. Three Jokers?? The 80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles RPG and real-life urban ninja action. Shane’s...
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Greyhawk With Allan "grodog" Grohe - Episode 274 - 2/29/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Despite what you might think from its famous box art, Greyhawk (the first D&D setting published by TSR) isn’t just knights and chivalry… so what is it then? Major Greyhawk fan Allan T. Grohe Jr. aka “grodog” joins to fill us in on all the setting’s fantastic details! Also: Greyhawk is a setting with plenty of room to homebrew within the established details. Why the name Greyhawk? Some discussion of the Greyhawk novels (Gary Gygax’s and others). The Moathouse vs. the Temple… which is remembered more fondly? Is Greyhawk “real” to Allan? Militant neutrality. Alignment and...
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Strat-O-Matic Baseball with Champion Bill Meinhardt - Episode 273 - 1/31/2024
Shane Plays Geek Talk
Strat-O-Matic Baseball might be one of the biggest games you’ve never heard of, and three-time champion William “Bill” Meinhardt joins to share his passion for playing it. How long has the game been around, and how many people play it? What’s the one mechanic Bill wishes was in this beloved game? Is there a link between Strat-O-Matic Baseball and Fantasy (Rotisserie) Baseball? Is there a link between Strat-O-Matic and tabletop roleplaying games? At its heart, what is the game of baseball? And for the really hard-hitting question, does Bill do the Chicken Dance?? Shane Plays Geek Talk...
info_outlineRPG designer Bruce Nesmith discusses his career as a TSR veteran (Ravenloft 2E, Gamma World 4E, Dragonlance), Elder Scrolls Skyrim lead designer, and now novelist. Bruce’s first day at TSR was an experience, to say the least. What does he consider his biggest achievement while at TSR? Bruce’s opinion of TSR under Gary Gygax versus Lorraine Williams and what he considers TSR’s “glory days”. What was his job description as lead designer on The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim? Why did Oblivion have a big celebrity but Skyrim didn’t? Bruce was years ahead of the game when it came to his revamp of the Armor Class system for Gamma World 4E. What do you do when you want to play D&D but you don’t have the rules? You invent it, including simulating the d20 with d6s. Writing for games versus writing prose. Bruce’s Loki in his novel Mischief Maker is not the MCU Loki. Shane laments the lack of a werecow in TSR publications.
Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #255 - 4/15/2022
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SHOW NOTES
Bruce Nesmith on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Nesmith
Bruce's novel "Mischief Maker"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092CJPX2Q/
Me And Steve Talk RPGs Episode 75: Bruce Nesmith
https://meandsteverpg.podbean.com/e/75-bruce-nesmith/
I’m A Werecow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqmtQR6MA-0
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Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games 2nd Edition
Shane's book! Co-authored with Matt Barton of Matt Chat
https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Desktops-History-Computer-Role-Playing/dp/1138574643/