If you are passionate about the gaming hobby: feed your passion with gaming podcasts.

How often do you game? Twice a week? Once? One a month? When you find those few short hours just do not satisfy scratch your gaming itch, you probably do other stuff – make characters, write campaign notes, visit forums, etc. Podcasters know how you feel. After all, [More…]we are passionate about gaming, too.

Because of our passion, we make audio and visual shows – shows that you can download and then burn on to a CD, play on the computer, or listen to on any MP3 player (not just an iPod). Also, it is why we maintain forums and spend time interacting with other gamers on the Net. We love talking with gamers who love the hobby as much as we do.

Are you not sure how podcasts feed your passion? Here are eight ways they do:

1. Find out about new games and gaming products

The RPG industry is extremely active with new products released every week. There are nearly a hundred active shows, many of which devote time to new products and news in the game industry.

2. Hear other fans talk in-depth about the games you love

Podcasts do not just cover the latest and the greatest. Many podcasters explore new adventures, new toys and new ideas about games that have been out for years. Whatever games you are interested in, there is a show talking about it.

3. Get advice and actual play to improve you gaming

Podcasters are gamers just like you, and we deal with the same sorts of issues at the table that you do – stalled and derailed games, problem players, etc. We often discuss how we have dealt with these problems and offer solutions that did (and did not) work for us. Some shows even make recordings of their sessions and post them on the Internet to show how they address these issues during play.

4. Hear the game designers in their own words

Dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons? Passion for Pathfinder? Want to meet the mastermind behind Mutants and Masterminds? Game designers are frequently interviewed on podcasts. Some podcasters even release who they are going to interview ahead of time and solicit questions from their listeners.

5. Get inspired by other gamers

Have you even been inspired while listening to another gamer talk about their last campaign or ideas for their next one? Listening to podcasts about games and genres you love is a lot like that. They can inspire you and keep you excited about gaming. And unlike a conversation with your friends, you can pause and rewind a podcast to take notes!

6. Learn new play styles and ideas about gaming

Many of your fellow gamers are coming up with new thoughts on how to play and new kinds of games. If you are searching for something different in your gaming, listen to podcasts that discuss these new theories and give primers for these cutting-edge games.

7. Participate in an interactive media

Podcasters love feedback, which is why we give out our email addresses and often have forums and voicemail services. We want to talk with people, not at them. Most of us are thrilled to answer questions on air and even bring listeners on our podcasts. If you want to get involved in your favorite shows, this medium is built for that.

8. Be part of a larger community

Podcasts bring together other gamers and give them a common thread to talk about, especially if the podcast has a forum. This leads to wider conversations between gamers and forms a community. Many people in the greater podcast community game together, become friends, design new games or even start new podcasts together.

If any of these reasons sound good to you, check out one of the podcasts in the Podcast Spotlight below or go to RPGPodcasts.com and search for more.

Podcast Spotlight

Sons of Kryos
sonsofkryos.com

If RPG podcasts have a Dear Abby, it is the Sons of Kryos. This show focuses on what they call “the gaming table,” issues that arise during play and ways to handle them. The titular Sons, Jeff Lower, Judd Karlman and Storn A. Cook, discuss two or three topics per show, without falling into the trap of believing there’s One True Way to solve problems. With the variety of issues they cover, such as using canon in your game (episode 40) or jumping forward in time (episode 58), they offer food for thought for any group.

Episode Highlight: #62, August 12, 2008

In the first segment, Judd & Storm discuss playing Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition, both positive & negative. They talk about their play experiences and what innovations in the game excite them. The next segment, “Shut Up and Play,” is about times when groups spend too much time planning for the game instead of jumping into play. [56:07]

Frequency: Monthly
Length: 45m – 1h

The Digital Front
thedigitalfront.com

Looking to get the scoop on the RPG industry’s digital world? Then you’re looking for The Digital Front. Hosted by e-commerce entrepreneur Daniel Perez, this show explores different sides of this commercial frontier. Whether you’re looking for news about what companies are doing with digital media or interviews with producers of PDFs, podcasts and other digital content, you’ll find it here.

Episode Highlight: #11, April 28, 2008

Daniel talks with Tom Tullis from Fat Dragon Games about the world of e-commerce from a different perspective than the usual PDF-focused company. They talk about the market conditions that caused them to make printable terrain and discuss ideas on how to make PDFs more than just copies of physical books. [46:42]

Frequency: Irregular
Length: 45m – 1h

Virtual Play
virtualplay.podbus.com

Pontificating about gaming teaches new things about this great hobby, but few thinkers back it up with recorded play. Enter Virtual Play. Host Mel White talks about his experiences playing different games and problems he has encountered. Spliced in are clips from the very sessions he’s talking about, so you hear the moments he is commenting on — the good and the bad. Whether he’s reviewing a game or talking about things the happen in play, you’ll be sure to find great information.

Episode Highlight: #29, June 7, 2008

Mel talks about playing the Keep on the Shadowfell, the Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition introductory module. He goes into different components of the system and talks about how they played out — using the different types of actions, the At Will powers, understanding burst versus blast, etc. As with all his episodes, you hear what happens at the table with each point he brings up. [23:49]

Frequency: Irregular
Length: 20m – 1h

Chris Perrin is a freelance writer, game designer with KNRPG Productions, host of Echoes from the Rifts, and cohost of the Diana Jones Award nominee podcast The Canon Puncture Show. Find out more about his shows at www.echoesfromtherifts.com and www.canonpuncture.com.

Ryan Macklin is a freelance writer, editor & audio producer, as well
as the man behind the Master Plan podcast.

Got your own favorites? Discuss podcasts in the KQ forums.