System Mastery
422 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 215 ratingsJef and Jon review old roleplaying games
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Episodes
Aberrant D20 – System Mastery 54
October 14, 2015 23:24 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/aberrant-d20-system-mastery-54.mp3 Let’s discuss the early aughts and their explosion of rapid-release D20 adaptations of older games! Here’s a White Wolf one that turns everything about superheroes in every way into a series of ever-more-complicated feats. Also Jef is super sick the whole time, sorry about that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Internet Knows Best – Afterthought 16
October 06, 2015 06:16 - 54.9 MBWe reviewed a game that, while ultimately a little disappointing and overcomplicated, was propped up on the internet as a huge otherkin fetish game. Was it really? Did the people […]
Fireborn – System Mastery 53
September 29, 2015 04:12 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/fireborn-episode-53.mp3 Have you ever felt like you weren’t just this shell you are now? That perhaps within you lurks something ancient, something fierce and fiery? Well, it’s true! Also, you should stop eating at Chipotle. This week we cover Fireborn, the famous FFG outing in which various self-absorbed London dorks discover that they are dragons on the inside and then start doing some sort of loosely defined thing in a mad dash to beco...
Stick the Landing – Afterthought 15
September 22, 2015 15:08 - 66.2 MBQuestions answered, poll discussed, and then we try like crazy to wring more to talk about out of the grim experience of reading Fantasy Wargaming: The Highest Level of All. […]
Fantasy Wargaming: The Highest Level of All – System Mastery 52
September 15, 2015 06:01 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/fantasy-wargaming-the-highest-level-of-all-system-mastery-52.mp3 Two weeks ago, the phrase “British Nerd” was relatively pleasant to me. I’d picture David Tennant, or Richard Ayoade, or even Hermione Granger, and everything was fine. “Oh,” I’d think, “Perhaps they’d like to discuss Neil Gaiman for a while!” Not now though. Now I picture a guy sitting alone at a restaurant, his waiter sending out every available physical signal of “I’m bus...
With Special Guest James D’Amato – Afterthought 14
September 08, 2015 07:04 - 72.6 MBWhat the hell, did we conduct an actual interview with an industry person? Man, I guess so. We sit down with James D’Amato, host of the One Shot Podcast, who […]
Micro RPGs – System Mastery 51
September 01, 2015 04:58 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/micro-rpgs-episode-51.mp3 This episode was so very refreshing. Five tiny, lovely RPGs made recently by designers that had fun in mind. It’s really not our wheelhouse to cover good stuff, but we wanted to throw out some love, even if it’s just every now and then. In this episode we cover All Outta Bubblegum, Everyone is John, Lasers & Feelings, Doctor Magnethands, and Gangland. These games are all cheap to free and can be found on the inte...
Verisimilitude – Afterthought 13
August 25, 2015 07:09 - 60 MBA seemingly neverending theme in what we do is books that evaluate Gary Gygax’s grand vision of a game that is meant to be played as a big game in […]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons – System Mastery 50
August 18, 2015 07:42 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/system-mastery-50.mp3 Fifty episodes in and it’s time to be confused by the grand pasture where every weird sacred cow in this industry was calved. We go looking for answers to the great mysteries of gaming? Will we find them? Or will be be stymied by clumsy vocabulary and bizarre decision making? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thanks! – Afterthought 12
August 11, 2015 14:30 - 60.4 MBThis week we’re in a bit too goofy of a mood to even really dig useful information out of ACE Agents. So this episode is basically a party. We answer […]
A.C.E. Agents – System Mastery 49
August 04, 2015 16:42 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/system-mastery-49.mp3 Today we introduce you to a light and relatively witty GI Joe parody from around 1992. A.C.E. Agents manages a very unusual balancing act of both satirizing and explaining the workings of a JOE-style secret agency, while still remaining at least a somewhat playable game. Sadly no rules in there for what happens when you take your little fight man and wind him up via the rubber band in his torso to create a little punch...
But What IS Satire? – Afterthought 11
July 28, 2015 06:38 - 59.1 MBThere is a slight chance we reviewed a game that is essentially a prank on reviewers. We’re willing to own up to that and deal with it like the kind […]
Human Occupied Landfill – System Mastery 48
July 22, 2015 20:55 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/system-mastery-48.mp3 Here’s a game of sorts. It’s handwritten, it’s irritating, and it’s about goofball prisoners sort of murdering each other on a garbage planet. Also it’s handwritten. It’s Human Occupied Landfill, and we hope you enjoy almost as much as we did (because we hate you). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Farmers Only Dot Com – Afterthought 10
July 14, 2015 06:58 - 54.3 MBIf a game has a random chance for your character to professionally farm dirt, isn’t it fair to expect that game to have comprehensive rules for dirt-farming? Wouldn’t you want […]
Fifth Cycle – System Mastery 47
July 07, 2015 17:09 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/system-mastery-472.mp3 Who likes their fantasy with a shot of heartbreaker and a dirt-farming sidecar? Maybe with a splash of podcast host bitters? This week we cover Fifth Cycle, a thoroughly confusing game about wizard archaeologists where you hope like crazy to play as a wizard archaeologist and not a farmer. Let us know what you thought of Fifth Cycle in the comments! Have a book you’d us to cover? Let us know about that too. Learn ...
Tolerance and So On – Afterthought 9
June 30, 2015 05:16 - 64.4 MBWith the forward march of civil rights on our minds, it was definitely time to bring the discussion of LGBT values into the arena of old games, new games, and […]
Raven Star – System Mastery 46
June 23, 2015 16:21 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/system-mastery-46.mp3 Hey, remember the 90s? Do you look back fondly on Rob Liefeld, X-Force, Reboot-style 3D art, and references to monofilament technology? Then hoo boy do we have the game for you! Raven Star is more or less a textbook space heartbreaker, with dwarves, elves … bear men… you get the idea. Settle in to get all cybed up! Let us know what you thought of Raven Star in the comments! Have a book you’d us to cover? Let us kn...
The DM Section – Afterthought 8
June 15, 2015 20:18 - 55.3 MBWhat do you think should be in the DM section? That’s totally one of the questions we should have asked in the official Afterthought Poll, as mentioned on the show. […]
Noumenon – System Mastery 45
June 09, 2015 04:43 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/system-mastery-451.mp3 In this installment we discuss the best soul coffin in the shape of a giant bug that solves fundamental metaphysics mysteries in an impossible mansion simulator we’ve ever read. We cover Noumenon, and the Sarcophoguys that wander the halls of the Silhouette Rouge, which I’m pretty sure is french for “Community College Psychology Class.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Supplement Supplementary – Afterthought 7
June 02, 2015 05:49 - 44.8 MBWe have a little bit more to say about RPG supplements, and then significantly more to say about Beagle Boy costumes and decaying basking sharks. Then we propose Harry: The […]
Supplement Special – System Mastery 44
May 26, 2015 15:05 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/system-mastery-44.mp3 System Mastery 44 – Supplement Special We’ve received a number of requests since the inception of System Mastery to cover supplementary RPG material and not just core books. While we love supplements, it’s never really clicked for us exactly which ones to cover and how to do it. Well, now we’ve got it figured out. We went back and found a couple supplements to some of the best of our worst. Haven: City of Violence, ...
Rose Colored Glasses – Afterthought 6
May 19, 2015 03:36 - 61.7 MBRose Colored Glasses – Afterthought 6 We’re working hard on setting the record for the least amount of time spent on-topic. This week we briefly discuss how memory affects our […]
Top Secret – System Mastery 43
May 12, 2015 22:40 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/system-mastery-43.mp3 System Mastery 43- Top Secret There’s a story around the internet about how this game is so realistic that it summoned the FBI around to investigate the TSR offices to see if they had some sort of secret intel or intent to kill the president or some such. Having read it now, we can only assume it’s because the FBI literally couldn’t figure out what was in the book at all, and decided to just cover their bases for the p...
Rock, Punk – Afterthought 5
May 05, 2015 03:03 - 46.3 MBRock, Punk – Afterthought 5 The chaos continues as we barrel through conversation, untethered by adherence to any particular RPG. Are we talking about Cheese Dudes? The Flintstones? Don’t look […]
Space 1889 – System Mastery 42
April 28, 2015 03:01 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/system-mastery-42.mp3 System Mastery 42- Space 1889 Craving high adventure in an age of zeppelins, Victoriana, and space fantasy? Keep looking then, because what we have here is boring. This week Jef and Jon take a tour of the Earth if the sun also never set on the British Empire on Venus and Mars. Is the art horrifying? Of course. Is the whole thing vaguely racist? Naturally! Editor’s note: Proof of horrifying art included. Check o...
Religion and Injokes – Afterthought 4
April 21, 2015 19:04 - 53.6 MBReligion and Injokes – Afterthought 4 Something’s gonna have to break. Just exactly how far off topic can we stray? For now the answer has progressed from somewhat to very. […]
Heaven & Earth – System Mastery 41
April 14, 2015 14:28 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/system-mastery-41.mp3 System Mastery 41 – Heaven & Earth The apocalypse! Oh, it’s a comin’, just you wait, you sinner you. In the meantime why don’t you hang around in small town America, solving vaguely creepy mysteries and interacting with character-heavy locals. You know, like maybe one of them has a log all the time? That kind of thing. This week we discuss Heaven & Earth, an RPG about atmosphere, angels, and the coming end of days....
Duckman and Such – Afterthought 3
April 07, 2015 15:35 - 37.2 MBDuckman and Such – Afterthought 3 The “Official” Duckman RPG This is a very free form week for us. We discuss humor in games, discuss the authenticity of The Official […]
The Official Duckman RPG – System Mastery 40
April 01, 2015 06:57 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/system-mastery-40.mp3 System Mastery 40 – Duckman He’s just one more duck detective, that works with a pig, lives with the twin sister of his dead wife, three sons on two bodies, and a mother-in-law with so much gas, she’s a fire hazard. This week System Mastery is overjoyed to present The Official Duckman RPG, a mixed bag of failure, liquor, nymphos, 90s topical humor, failure again, the American dream, and hijinks. We hope this doesn’t s...
Listener Mail – Afterthought 2
March 24, 2015 15:17 - 45.6 MBListener Mail – Afterthought 2 In this no-doubt infuriating installment, we answer a ton of listener questions, but also discuss James (the band), our secret alter egos, and give tantalizing […]
Witch Girls Adventures – System Mastery 39
March 17, 2015 03:52 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/system-mastery-39.mp3 System Mastery 39 – Witch Girls Adventures Witches! Rustics! Technomancers! The Ugly One! It’s Witch Girls Adventures, and it’s your chance to step into the stylish shoes of a 13-year old witch and go on way cool adventures, maybe even at the mall. Shopping! This game is aimed a little young, so we try to puzzle out what makes a good game for kids while we’re at it. Editor’s note: Don’t forget to send in questio...
Licensed Games – Afterthought 1
March 10, 2015 03:56 - 38.9 MBLicensed Games – Afterthought 1 Something new for our listeners this week! While we’d never be able to read fast enough to take System Mastery weekly, we still want to […]
Stormbringer – System Mastery 38
March 03, 2015 03:11 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/episode-38-stormbringer.mp3 Episode 38 – Stormbringer ELRIC! Thy book is a thousand times more execrable than thou! Though I have to admit I had this iconic piece of nerd power fantasy confused for the early part of my young life with the other one, Raistlin, this guy is apparently quite pedigreed. The doomed albino of deficient blood and his evil runesword more or less dominate this book, much to our chagrin. Can you save the ancient wo...
Deliria – System Mastery 37
February 16, 2015 17:21 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/episode-37-deliria.mp3 System Mastery 37 – Deliria During the 90s, a lot of the small-market games were about trying to fix one issue that the author had with basement-ready games from the 70s. By 2002 a renaissance was required! No longer were games just for mega-nerds programming Scorched Earth into their graphing calculators! Now the games were for normal people, like baristas, ravers, hackers, and burners. Nothing encapsulates this e...
Dungeons & Dragons – System Mastery 36
February 04, 2015 02:41 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/system-mastery-36.mp3 System Mastery 36 – Dungeons & Dragons We take a much needed break from endless reading of defunct gaming manuals, but that doesn’t mean we don’t seek to entertain! This week, System Mastery brings you fresh coverage of the 2001 hit film, Dungeons & Dragons. It has a Wayans, and a Riff-Raff, and more! This film might be extremely terrible written, but at least it also has horrible visuals and unappealing acting! Le...
Vanishing Point – System Mastery 35
January 23, 2015 06:27 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/system-mastery-35.mp3 System Mastery 35 – Vanishing Point If you’ve read any Neil Gaiman or just been stuck in line at a convention behind steampunk people, you’re all set for Vanishing Point. It’s a neat little RPG about visiting a planet shaped like a brain, populated by weirdos classified by insanities, and choked full of more British flavor than a steak and kidney pie. Let us know what you thought of Vanishing Point in the comments! H...
Fantasy Imperium – System Mastery 34
January 06, 2015 05:31 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/systemmastery34.mp3 SystemMastery 34 – Fantasy Imperium This game was surprisingly difficult to find art for. The cover is easy enough, since it’s got a famous story behind it, but apparently no one wanted to put any of the many boring knights or cheesecake witches inside the book on the internet. We stuck some fairies on the homepage that get the point across pretty well. Come along as we review Fantasy Imperium, an Interactive Storytell...
Maid – System Mastery 33
December 19, 2014 02:51 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/systemmastery33.mp3 SystemMastery 33 – Maid This week, we’re joined in studio (my living room) by a guest host! Our friend Claire joins us because we just didn’t feel comfortable tackling this sexist minefield without her. It’s Maid! The RPG where you wear a frilly sex uniform and tee-hee your way through a day of almost-charming almost-sex that is almost always almost-rape. Let us know what you thought of Maid in the comments! Have a b...
Darkurthe: Legends – System Mastery 32
December 02, 2014 17:01 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/systemmastery32.mp3 SystemMastery 32 – Darkurthe: Legends The least requested game of all time comes to System Mastery! We discuss Darkurthe, a world of isolated city-states, deep racial convinctions, and clans, guilds, cults, and freeholds. Play as humans, elves, dwarves, gross elves, mean dwarves, and anguls. Check out a great spell system that is 100% spell creation! I’m hyping this way more than it’s worth! Learn more about your ad ...
The World of Synnibarr 2 – System Mastery 31
November 13, 2014 02:10 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/systemmastery31.mp3 SystemMastery 31 – Synnibarr 2 The final chapter in our saga of Synnibarr. Impossible continents, insane monsters, and ludicrous facts about this maddening world. This time around, we even try to tell you how you were supposed to play the game! Let us know what you thought of Synnibarr in the comments! Have a book you’d us to cover? Let us know about that too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...
The World of Synnibarr 1 – System Mastery 30
November 01, 2014 22:00 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/systemmastery30.mp3 SystemMastery 30 – The World of Synnibarr 1 The most requested title of all comes to System Mastery! Biogladites (whatever that is), chameleon drakes, and I guess archers engage in insane adventure and deadly battle on a hollowed out Mars thousands of years from now and light years from here. Sound engaging? Well hang on because the rules system is so incredibly crufty and complicated that we barely even talked about i...
Synnibarr Preview – System Mastery Special Edition
October 18, 2014 22:51 - 11 minuteshttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/system-mastery-special-edition-synnibarr.mp3 System Mastery Special Edition – Synnibarr Today, we bring you a little something special. A dramatic reading of the brilliant beginning to the tale of The World of Synnibarr. Tune in next week for our full review. Let us know what you thought of Synnibarr in the comments! Have a book you’d us to cover? Let us know about that too. Editor’s correction: Business travel is keeping us from doin...
Horrortoberfest 2014: Day 12 – The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
October 13, 2014 04:10 - 57.4 MBHorrortoberfest 12 – The Rage Carrie 2 Today we give way more thought to the ideas behind this Carrie sequel than the original writers of the screenplay did. We go […]
Dark Heresy – System Mastery 29
October 09, 2014 05:48 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/systemmastery29.mp3 SystemMastery 29 – Dark Heresy Skulls for the Skull Throne! We take a discerning look at Dark Heresy, one of many games set in the grim darkness of the dark grimness of the Warhammer 40k universe. Will you be greasy scum, oily robot man, or festering, gibbering psychic? The correct answer is probably psychic, but we’ll try to suss all that out in the review. Let us know what you thought of Dark Heresy in the comments!...
Spookshow: The Game of Ectoplasmic Intrigue – System Mastery 28
September 24, 2014 16:59 - 57 minuteshttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/systemmastery28.mp3 SystemMastery 28 – Spookshow This game is about ghost spies. Get it? It’s a double meaning on the word. I’m not sure if you get it. You see, spook is occasionally used as a derogatory term for someone who works in the intelligence industry, and is also sometimes used as a synonym for an intangible entity from beyond the grave. In this game, you play as both, and then you try to have fun. It’s complicated and boring...
Nexus – System Mastery 27
September 09, 2014 07:00 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/systemmastery27.mp3 SystemMastery 27 – Nexus Live Action Roleplaying Time to gather up 50 or so of your greatest friends and then slowly and painfully lose them over the course of a complex, sweaty, argumentative weekend! We discuss our very first LARP with Nexus, a game of galactic intrigue, simple rules, bad puns and lots and lots of backrubs. Can the Konathians enslave the Earth before the Inner Empire citizens discover their plot? Wil...
Car Wars – System Mastery 26
August 26, 2014 15:39 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/systemmastery26.mp3 System Mastery 26 – Car Wars Strap in, it’s going to be a dense, chart-heavy ride. Steve Jackson’s Car Wars is heavy on near-future apocalyptic flavor, and equally heavy on complex movement and combat rules. It’s a battle of cars, bikes, trucks, trikes, trars, trike-trucks, truck-trikes, and for some reason, helicopters on this 80s-charged episode. Let us know what you thought of Car Wars in the comments! Have a book ...
D&D Set 1 Basic Rules – System Mastery 25
August 12, 2014 15:41 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/systemmastery25.mp3 SystemMastery 25 – D&D Set 1 Basic Rules We celebrate a year’s worth of RPG reviews with a return to a true classic. The original Red Box D&D, complete with the white crayon for your dice and the $30 registration form for the 1981 RPGA. Take to the dungeon as a fighter, a magic-user, or perhaps a halfling in one of the earliest iterations of the Dungeons & Dragons name. Let us know what you thought of D&D Basic in the ...
C°ntinuum – System Mastery 24
July 29, 2014 15:28 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/systemmastery24.mp3 SystemMastery 24 – C°ntinuum: Roleplaying in the Yet It’s a time travel game! More accurately, it’s a game about keeping meticulous detailed notes because the DM might check to see if you did at any second! Join millions of other time travelers working and playing together, but try not to accidentally erase yourself from existence! It’s shockingly easy to do, after all. We review C°ntinuum – Roleplaying in the Yet, al...
Star Wars RPG – System Mastery 23
July 16, 2014 04:59 - 1 hourhttps://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/systemmastery23.mp3 SystemMastery 23 – Star Wars RPG Our second look at West End Games takes us to a galaxy far, far away, where an antagonistic GM is expected to control the party with an iron (if capricious) fist. We’ll discuss whether or not Boba Fett lives up to his hype, what the deal is with all that expanded universe stuff, and maybe even briefly talk about the actual RPG we’re ostensibly here for. As always, if you’ve got a suggest...