Show us how project management skills can help you GM — and vice versa! Phil and Senda are both professionals in various project management offices at this point in their careers, and have a conversation about how those skills work in both places and how you can use one to hone the other. Also! This is our last show of 2024. We will be on podcastin…

Show us…Gary Gygax’s tenants of GM Mastery! Phil and Senda go back for one more part on the 1987 book Role-Playing Mastery. Do they stand up to the test of time? Our take is…well, mostly. Also this episode: HOLIDAY HIATUS DATES. We will be taking some time off — but we will be back in January! Specific dates and information at the top of the show. …

Show us how Gary Gygax thought you should be a master GM! Phil and Senda continue their conversation about the 1987 title Role-Playing Mastery by Gary Gygax, deciding what they think still holds true, what can be reinterpreted to modern play/situations, and what we have evolved beyond. In this episode, the beginning of GM Mastery! (CW: definitely c…

Show us what Gygax considered a master player! Do we agree? Do you?! Phil and Senda talk through the first 9 steps to being a Master Player according to Gary Gygax/s 1987 book Role Playing Mastery. As a refresher, here are the first 9 points: Study the rules of your chosen role-playing game. Learn the goal(s) of the game. Discover the spirit of the…

Show us what Gygax considered a master player! Do we agree? Do you?! Phil and Senda talk through the first 9 steps to being a Master Player according to Gary Gygax/s 1987 book Role Playing Mastery. Here are the first 9 points: Study the rules of your chosen role-playing game. Learn the goal(s) of the game. Discover the spirit of the game, and make …

Show us how you balance a player that is much much more proactive than the rest of your table! Phil and Senda cover when it’s actually a problem and some ideas on how to address it. THERE WILL BE NO NEW EPISODE NEXT WEEK, OCTOBER 30th! We’ll be back in November! Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.…

Show us how you find people…to be new gamers! Phil and Senda talk introducing people to gaming and finding the kind of people who a) would be interested and b) would be interested in the kind of gaming you are interested in. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a …

Show us how you find a new gaming group! Phil and Senda talk approaches to finding people and how to figure out who you might be looking for. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you make gaming goals happen! Phil and Senda follow up on their gaming goals from last episode, including an extemporaneous brain storm on positive feedback at the table. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://p…

Episode 365 – after a whole year of numbered episodes, it’s like a New Year’s resolution? Phil and Senda talk personal goals for gaming – for how they play, facilitate, and engage with the industry and community. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our…

Today we answered a grab bag of questions all submitted by folks whose names start with J! Coincidence? We think….yes absolutely didn’t notice it until partway through the show. Today’s questions cover analysis paralysis and hustle vs. play. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the inter…

Show us how you manage the conversation when you realize your game has lost momentum! Phil and Senda use their own campaign as a live demo to put their money where their mouth is and talk (like they always advise) about their ongoing game night and what to do with it. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.co…

Today we’re addressing some of our smaller questions! Realism vs. Playability in Combat Spotlight sharing at the table How to pick con games Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you play an evil game! Phil and Senda talk how to make it work and the pitfalls of chaos vs. purpose in an evil game. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you make a good player goal! Phil and Senda talk what and why, and how a strong “why” can make even a generic or potentially boring “what” really interesting. It’s also back to one shots and campaigns! Check out Starscape from Golden Lasso Games on kickstarter right now! Found family and space travel, oh my! https://www.kickstarter.com/…

Show us how major life changes might change your gaming! Phil and Senda speak from experience on many of these. Have you experienced changes in your gaming due to changes in your life? Check out Starscape from Golden Lasso Games on kickstarter right now! Found family and space travel, oh my! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goldenlassogames/sta…

Show us how you make space in your game for different kinds of “fun” when different things give energy to different folks at your table! Senda and Phil talk about “fun,” defining it for yourself, and how to create space for your fun and other people’s as a GM and as a player. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://pa…

Show us how you add a romantic sideplot, without sidelining your main plot! Phil and Senda talk involved players, uninvolved players, and GMs as well as spotlight sharing and setting up the proximity of the characters involved in the romance. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the inte…

Show us how you can get a board game friend to try TTRPGs — and maybe when it’s not a good idea! Phil and Senda talk about some of the signs that your friend’s fun comes from parts of board games that TTRPGs are good at, and how to identify when they might not be. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mm…

Show us how you share your world building! One very traditional approach to facilitating games is for the GM to be in charge of all the world building, so Phil and Senda are here to talk about the spectrum of shared world building responsibilities and some ways to approach it. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://p…

Show us how you embody an NPC at the table when advance prep is your stronger skill, or show us how you prep for a character when improv is where you excel! Phil and Senda talk small actions, mindset, and approaches to embodying NPCs, whether you’re doing some of that work up front or making it up as you go. The podcast episode Senda referenced in …

Show us how you mechanically handle downtime! Phil and Senda talk through Phil’s homebrew approach to downtime mechanics in Mutants in the Now, and how to create or apply something to any game you’re playing that doesn’t have a downtime mechanic built in. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find u…

MicroRPGs, how we personally start doing game design, and contract work vs. hobby time, oh my! Phil and Senda sit down to answer a series of questions on game design and playtesting when you have limited play test resources. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a …

Show us how you tell stories in your session — structure that story! It was our 7 year podaversary and we completely forgot, so we’re taking this one to do a topic that Phil had been thinking about a lot as he planned one of his current games. How do *you* structure a session? Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://p…

Show us how you…do a bunch of littler topics! It’s been a little while since we’ve done a topic round up! On today’s episode we talk about: The value of discussing game theory with people you also play games with Rolling GMs (vs. round table, vs. troupe style) Tips for how to prepare to GM at a US convention Check out the Lumberjils kickstarter her…

Show us how you use daydreaming as GM prep! Phil and Senda talk daydreaming, both intentional/focused and not, as well as where we do it best and when and how you might want to write it down. Misdirected Mark has officially become the Polygamerous Podcast Network! You can read more here: https://polygamero.us/misdirected-mark-productions-is-becomin…

Show us how you get the old group back together! Phil went on a trip and did some game prep for a very unique and specific circumstance, and we’re going to talk about it. Welcome to the Polygamerous Podcast Network! Misdirected Mark is officially becoming the PGN. You can read more here: https://polygamero.us/misdirected-mark-productions-is-becomin…

Show us how you run or play a game when you’ve only dabbled in a particular IP! Phil and Senda talk being the GM or being a player when you’re not the expert in something like Star Wars, Marvel, or Lord of the Rings. Welcome to the Polygamerous Podcast Network! Misdirected Mark is officially becoming the PGN. You can read more here: https://polygam…

Hey friends! We ran into a crunch and needed to turn out a lower stakes episode this week, so here we present to you (drum roll please!) a chit chat! If this is your first time listening, you may wish to go back or forward an episode to hear our normal show style. In this chit chat, we talk giving us life in gaming and lessons you might be able to …

Show us how much of a game you can replace before you may as well write your own! Senda and Phil chat about the Ship of Theseus syndrome of games (if you replace all the parts, is it still the same game?) as well as when it might make sense to write your own game and when it wouldn’t (most of the time, in our opinion). Link! Senda’s per page readin…

Show us how you get emotional investment in one shots and the beginnings of campaigns! Phil and Senda talk player and GM responsibilities and faking it til you make it, along with some other ideas to get you started. Link! Senda’s per page fundraising for the Trans Rights Read-a-thon can be found here: https://go.rallyup.com/trr2024senda Bamboo Lou…

Show us how you handle conditions and agency! Character agency vs. player agency — is there a difference? Phil and Senda talk agency and conditions, and when conditions have the potential to infringe on player agency. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic o…

Who’s an NPC? How can we categorize them? Let’s talk non-player characters (and the sometimes spectrum)! Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: http://misdirectedmark.com/pandaBy Senda Linaugh and Phil Vecchione

Show us how you run a game when you are less than enthusiastic about it…maybe? Phil and Senda talk running games as a gift or favor for folks (when you are not a professional GM), how to get onboard or find a way to be onboard, and when it’s maybe not worth it. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. …

Show us how you breathe life into your setting at the table! How do you make a setting feel alive, engaging, and evocative? Phil and Senda discuss in this off the cuff episode. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: http://misdirec…

Show us how you make an encounter (in whatever context) challenging without being *too* challenging! Phil and Senda talk GM knowledge vs. NPC knowledge, planning challenges and encounters, and not nerfing your players special powers on the reg. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the in…

Show us how you introduce a new setting to players! Phil and Senda talk setting considerations, ways to do setting introductions without turning on the firehose, and recommendations for getting folks up to speed quickly. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topi…

Show us your gaming plans for 2024! We’re taking the gentle on ramp after our holiday and talking about some of our aspirations for the new year, both gaming and personally. What are some of your gaming aspirations? Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on …

Show us how you use leading questions in your games! Phil and Senda talk leading questions, as well as how and when to use them effectively. Unfortunately two thing happened this episode: 1. Phil’s mic started doing some very strange things. We were not able to save the bamboo lounge. 2. Phil hurt his back and was in pain as we got this recorded, s…

Show us what you’re grateful for in gaming this year! Phil and Senda record a quick episode before American Thanksgiving to tease apart some of the things we are really grateful for this year when it comes to our gaming lives. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us …

Show us how you….okay. Hang on a sec. [The screech of a soap box being dragged out from a closet] Real talk. There’s a lot of discourse currently occurring about bleed on a number of social media platforms. We don’t usually jump in on discourse (and have managed not to on social media directly) but we have THOUGHTS, dammit. We are not here to tear …

Show us how you slide some character beats into an action oriented game! Phil and Senda talk about the spectrum that is character driven games and action driven games, and how to push your slider a little more into the middle when the game you’re playing is intended to be action oriented. Also, hope y’all enjoyed Acadecon, we were super late on add…

Show us how you play more games! Phil and Senda….both had quite a few weeks there, but we’re happy to be on mics again, even if we kept it pretty short. This week, we talk about some ideas for getting more games to the table — a constant struggle for the polygamerous among us! If you have more ideas, let us know, because we need help with this too!…

No cliffhangers today! Phil and Senda talk about the second part of the question regarding GM brain and anxiety — some common GM anxieties and ideas about how to address them (besides just the old advice to practice). Are there other specific anxieties that haunt you at the table? Drop us a line! Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these …

Show us how you can use improv at the table to alleviate your recall anxiety! Phil and Senda talk improv and GM anxiety at the table, with a helping of other resources for practicing improv for gaming specifically. References: Improv for Gamers by Karen Twelves Episode 127 – Improve your Improv (yikes! That was a LONG time ago!) Perchance Never Unp…

We’re bringing it back! Way back before the pandemic, Phil and Senda were well on their way to kickstarting this game. We’ve just picked it back up again and we’re working hard! We were a little overworked to have our standard topic today, so we had a chit chat instead. If this is your first episode, you may wish to go forward or backwards on episo…

Show us how you manage being REALLY into your game when not everyone is! Phil and Senda talk about the disparity of time spent thinking about a game between player and GM, as well as more generally when you are more excited about something than the people you are around. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon…

Finishing up last week’s topic (barely!), we’re bringing it home by merging in the discussion of GM brain with GM style and GM supports. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: http://misdirectedmark.com/panda…

Show us how you find the right kind of game for your GM brain! Thanks to a comment about a quick aside from a few episodes ago where Senda mentioned in passing that her attachment to improv GMing has more to do with ADHD recall than with a lack of desire or ability to prep, we’re on the case. Phil and Senda take a stab at generalized categorization…

Show us how you set a scene to give it genre feel and manage pacing! Phil and Senda talk scene setting — pacing, description and set up, spotlight, and participants — for genre emulation and tone creation. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny …