The Argument Phase

We return after a long hiatus! This episode we talk about how to run a table with subtle GM tricks, and get back from Gen Con 2015 and the Iron GM World Championships.

We sit down and have a round table discussion about how to involve your players by changing the atmosphere at your game table. We share stories, opinions and advice about how to be a better GM. We present to you the Art of the Table on the Argument Phase. Starring Ben Mandall, Gillian Fraser, Charlotte Bethel, and Luther Belk.

We sit down and have a round table discussion about tactical combat simulations and their role at the table. We share stories, opinions and advice about how to be a better GM. We present to you the Art of the Table on the Argument Phase. Starring Ben Mandall, Gillian Fraser, Charlotte Bethel, and Luther Belk.

A new pack, the Pack of Away We Go, is on their way to Spinning Compass, Arizona. On their way they find the ghost of a little girl and try to get her home, but the Men Who Whisper are in their way. Starring Jill, Charlotte, Luther, and Jessica.

We sit down and have a round table discussion about the four best days in gaming! We share stories, opinions and advice about how to be a better GM at Iron GM. We present to you the Art of the Table on the Argument Phase. Starring Ben Mandall and Gillian Fraser.

We sit down and have a round table discussion about the acceptable and unacceptable situations and conversations at the table. We share stories, opinions and advice about how to be a better GM. We present to you the Art of the Table on the Argument Phase. Starring Ben Mandall, Gillian Fraser, Chris White, Charlotte Bethel, and Luther Belk.

We sit down and have a round table discussion about how a GM can get a role-playing group together. We share stories, opinions and advice about how to be a better GM. We present to you the Art of the Table on the Argument Phase. Starring Ben Mandall, Gillian Fraser,

We sit down and have a round table discussion about what a GM really is at the table. We share stories, opinions and advice about how to be a better GM. We present to you the Art of the Table on the Argument Phase. Starring Ben Mandall, Gillian Fraser, Charlotte Bethel, and luther Belk.

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of the Iron GM competition at Phoenix Comic Con 2014 talk about Iron GM, their experience at the tables, and give advice about how to be an Iron GM. The Iron GM tournament turns adventure-making into competitive sport and rewards GMing talent with phenomenal prizes. Inspired by three Secret Story Elements unveiled at the show, GMs spend an hour crafting an adventure then run it for players who, in turn, judge them on their performance. Local veterans go on to represent their home town at Regional Semi-Finals. Regional Semi-Final winner are called Iron Contenders, and are sent by their sponsoring conventions to Gen Con Indy (hotel, airfare and a 4 day badge) for FREE to represent their gaming community in the Iron GM World Championship, and for a shot at the Iron GM world title. While all participants at Iron GM events receive prizes – and players have the opportunity to win even more during our halftime show – the top three GMs always win big, walking off with an impressively expensive pile of loot from top RPG publishers. Starring luther Belk, Ben Mandall, Gillian Fraser, & Alban Yvarai

We play Wicked Fantasy with the authors of the book! Wicked Fantasy: A brand new PATHFINDER setting book that puts a twist on the "classic" fantasy races from the award-winning designer John Wick. Wicked Fantasy is a brand new setting book focusing on ten races. It has been a year-long project for myself and Gillian Fraser, re-creating the "generic" races found in most fantasy roleplaying games. We re-designed humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, and then turned our attention to orks, gnolls, ratmen, goblins and kobolds. Ten races, all with a wicked twist. Our re-envisioning effort met with much critical applause with reviews calling the new races "brilliant," "sometimes near genius," and containing "lessons every gazetteer should look at." Starring: John Wick, Gillian Fraser, Ro Wick, Chris White, Jason Rausch Guest starring: Ruth Pearson (all the way from Scotland!)

"In the small town of Byron Falls, Minnesota, there’s more going on than most suspect. Witches and warlocks, vampires and werewolves, mummies and ghosts haunt every corner. And, of course, brilliant, beautiful young girls who want desperately to fall in love with them. Byron Falls is the second Little Game from John Wick's forthcoming Big Book of Little Games. Players take the roles of lonely, beautiful and misunderstood high school girls who meet and fall in love with lonely, beautiful and misunderstood monsters. Instead of stats like "strength" or "dexterity," players roll dice for their relationships, building life-long friendships and bitter rivalries while trying to romance the moody vampire in study hall. Welcome to Byron Falls. Don't you dare fall in love." This episode is the first of our Byron Falls Mini-series. This takes place outside of Byron Falls, and is a one-shot of the Byron Falls universe through the eyes of a team of Hunters. Starring Charlotte Bethel (our awesome GM), John Wick (the Conspiracy Theorist & Author of the game), Ro Wick (the Coroner Lady), Luther Belk (the Ghost Buster/Time Lord?), Gillian Fraser (the Best at Paperwork, ever), and Alban Yvarai (Action Hero Man-Candy).

"In the small town of Byron Falls, Minnesota, there’s more going on than most suspect. Witches and warlocks, vampires and werewolves, mummies and ghosts haunt every corner. And, of course, brilliant, beautiful young girls who want desperately to fall in love with them. Byron Falls is the second Little Game from John Wick's forthcoming Big Book of Little Games. Players take the roles of lonely, beautiful and misunderstood high school girls who meet and fall in love with lonely, beautiful and misunderstood monsters. Instead of stats like "strength" or "dexterity," players roll dice for their relationships, building life-long friendships and bitter rivalries while trying to romance the moody vampire in study hall. Welcome to Byron Falls. Don't you dare fall in love." This episode is the first of our Byron Falls Mini-series. This takes place outside of Byron Falls, and is a one-shot of the Byron Falls universe through the eyes of a team of Hunters. Starring Charlotte Bethel (our awesome GM), John Wick (the Conspiracy Theorist & Author of the game), Ro Wick (the Coroner Lady), Luther Belk (the Ghost Buster/Time Lord?), Gillian Fraser (the Best at Paperwork, ever), and Alban Yvarai (Action Hero Man-Candy).

In the small town of Byron Falls, Minnesota, there’s more going on than most suspect. Witches and warlocks, vampires and werewolves, mummies and ghosts haunt every corner. And, of course, brilliant, beautiful young girls who want desperately to fall in love with them. Byron Falls is the second Little Game from John Wick's forthcoming Big Book of Little Games. Players take the roles of lonely, beautiful and misunderstood high school girls who meet and fall in love with lonely, beautiful and misunderstood monsters. Instead of stats like "strength" or "dexterity," players roll dice for their relationships, building life-long friendships and bitter rivalries while trying to romance the moody vampire in study hall. Welcome to Byron Falls. Don't you dare fall in love." This episode is the first of our Byron Falls Mini-series. This takes place outside of Byron Falls, and is a one-shot of the Byron Falls universe through the eyes of a team of Hunters. Starring Charlotte Bethel (our awesome GM), John Wick (the Conspiracy Theorist & Author of the game), Ro Wick (the Coroner Lady), Luther Belk (the Ghost Buster/Time Lord?), Gillian Fraser (the Best at Paperwork, ever), and Alban Yvarai (Action Hero Man-Candy).

WIELD: Chronicles of the Vatcha is a new "Little Game" from the creators of Wicked Fantasy, Gillian Fraser and John Wick. It includes rules for creating "vatcha" (willful weapons) and telling their stories. They are ancient and immortal. Their plots and plans may take centuries to accomplish. And the vatcha carry them out... one wielder at a time. For those they choose to wield them are powerful beyond the dreams of men... and nothing more than the vatcha's pawns. What Is WIELD About? I had this game in the back of my head for a decade, but I didn't know how to do it. Then, I had lunch with Jill one day, told her about it, and she said, "John, do it this way." It was exactly what I needed to hear. WIELD is about power. How much do you have, how much do you give up and who has power over you? It is about negotiation and compromise, surrendering and gaining power over another. A vatcha has almost limitless power, but it can only channel that power through a wielder. Thus, a compromise must be made between the two. How much power will the vatcha surrender and how much of his own Destiny will the wielder compromise for the vatcha's goals? How Does WIELD Do That? Each player in WIELD takes on two roles: a vatcha and a wielder (for another player's vatcha). At first, the vatcha are reluctant to give their wielders too much power, but in order to accomplish their goals, they must surrender some of it to those who wield them. For in truth, a vatcha without a wielder is powerless. It needs human hands to channel its magic. Otherwise, it is just another ring or just another sword sitting in a desert or at the bottom of a lake, waiting for some fool to pick it up. And thus, the vatcha must negotiate with its wielder. Each wielder is a hero who has their own heroic Destiny to fulfill. If a vatcha is to accomplish its own goals, it must deal with its wielder's Destiny... one way or another. Each vatcha has a CONTROL trait. This gives the vatcha control over its wielder's actions and will. But when it gives its wielder power, that Control goes down. The more power the vatcha gives, the less it can control the actions and will of its wielder. And that's the problem: in order to get what it wants, the vatcha must surrender its control. How much control is enough? Can it surrender too much? And what happens when the wielder takes control? Help Kickstart WIELD! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2006204732/wield-a-little-game-about-ancient-powers Starring John Wick, Gillian Fraser, Rochelle Wick, Christopher White,Jason Rausch, Jeremy Walley, Alban Yvarai

After setup, we finally start playing the game! WIELD: Chronicles of the Vatcha is a new "Little Game" from the creators of Wicked Fantasy, Gillian Fraser and John Wick. It includes rules for creating "vatcha" (willful weapons) and telling their stories. They are ancient and immortal. Their plots and plans may take centuries to accomplish. And the vatcha carry them out... one wielder at a time. For those they choose to wield them are powerful beyond the dreams of men... and nothing more than the vatcha's pawns. What Is WIELD About? I had this game in the back of my head for a decade, but I didn't know how to do it. Then, I had lunch with Jill one day, told her about it, and she said, "John, do it this way." It was exactly what I needed to hear. WIELD is about power. How much do you have, how much do you give up and who has power over you? It is about negotiation and compromise, surrendering and gaining power over another. A vatcha has almost limitless power, but it can only channel that power through a wielder. Thus, a compromise must be made between the two. How much power will the vatcha surrender and how much of his own Destiny will the wielder compromise for the vatcha's goals? How Does WIELD Do That? Each player in WIELD takes on two roles: a vatcha and a wielder (for another player's vatcha). At first, the vatcha are reluctant to give their wielders too much power, but in order to accomplish their goals, they must surrender some of it to those who wield them. For in truth, a vatcha without a wielder is powerless. It needs human hands to channel its magic. Otherwise, it is just another ring or just another sword sitting in a desert or at the bottom of a lake, waiting for some fool to pick it up. And thus, the vatcha must negotiate with its wielder. Each wielder is a hero who has their own heroic Destiny to fulfill. If a vatcha is to accomplish its own goals, it must deal with its wielder's Destiny... one way or another. Each vatcha has a CONTROL trait. This gives the vatcha control over its wielder's actions and will. But when it gives its wielder power, that Control goes down. The more power the vatcha gives, the less it can control the actions and will of its wielder. And that's the problem: in order to get what it wants, the vatcha must surrender its control. How much control is enough? Can it surrender too much? And what happens when the wielder takes control? Help Kickstart WIELD! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2006204732/wield-a-little-game-about-ancient-powers Starring John Wick, Gillian Fraser, Rochelle Wick, Christopher White,Jason Rausch, Jeremy Walley, Alban Yvarai

The end of our playtest for WIELD! WIELD: Chronicles of the Vatcha is a new "Little Game" from the creators of Wicked Fantasy, Gillian Fraser and John Wick. It includes rules for creating "vatcha" (willful weapons) and telling their stories. They are ancient and immortal. Their plots and plans may take centuries to accomplish. And the vatcha carry them out... one wielder at a time. For those they choose to wield them are powerful beyond the dreams of men... and nothing more than the vatcha's pawns. What Is WIELD About? I had this game in the back of my head for a decade, but I didn't know how to do it. Then, I had lunch with Jill one day, told her about it, and she said, "John, do it this way." It was exactly what I needed to hear. WIELD is about power. How much do you have, how much do you give up and who has power over you? It is about negotiation and compromise, surrendering and gaining power over another. A vatcha has almost limitless power, but it can only channel that power through a wielder. Thus, a compromise must be made between the two. How much power will the vatcha surrender and how much of his own Destiny will the wielder compromise for the vatcha's goals? How Does WIELD Do That? Each player in WIELD takes on two roles: a vatcha and a wielder (for another player's vatcha). At first, the vatcha are reluctant to give their wielders too much power, but in order to accomplish their goals, they must surrender some of it to those who wield them. For in truth, a vatcha without a wielder is powerless. It needs human hands to channel its magic. Otherwise, it is just another ring or just another sword sitting in a desert or at the bottom of a lake, waiting for some fool to pick it up. And thus, the vatcha must negotiate with its wielder. Each wielder is a hero who has their own heroic Destiny to fulfill. If a vatcha is to accomplish its own goals, it must deal with its wielder's Destiny... one way or another. Each vatcha has a CONTROL trait. This gives the vatcha control over its wielder's actions and will. But when it gives its wielder power, that Control goes down. The more power the vatcha gives, the less it can control the actions and will of its wielder. And that's the problem: in order to get what it wants, the vatcha must surrender its control. How much control is enough? Can it surrender too much? And what happens when the wielder takes control? Help Kickstart WIELD! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2006204732/wield-a-little-game-about-ancient-powers Starring John Wick, Gillian Fraser, Rochelle Wick, Christopher White,Jason Rausch, Jeremy Walley, Alban Yvarai

After an extended absence we are back. We find the players wondering the underground cavers looking for someone to help them remove the parisites that were attaced to them last session.

Part 2 of the series examines the factions of the Fadingsuns universe.

A new Argument Phase Podcast! In preparation of a Fading suns game this podcast is meant to give gamer's and players a brief background lesson in the fading suns universe.

In this session we follow the players as they discover what has happened to them, and are led through a labyrinth to find someone who might be able to help them out of their predicament.