About

Postcard from the Dungeon

A podcast aimed at creativity and how it applies to table-top roleplaying games (ttRPG’s). Where do ideas come from? How can creative endeavors in other fields be related to ttRPG’s? What can be learned from creative Game Master’s, Player’s, and the media (movies, TV, books, comics, games) that inspire them?

Join the co-hosts, Stephen, Jim, and Jeb, as they discuss popular media and creativity and occasionally interview guests – and apply what’s been learned to making ttRPG’s more creative and interesting for everyone involved!

Stephen A. Jarjoura
Steve (at) PftDCast (dot) com

Stephen A. Jarjoura

Trapped in the interwebs.

My name is Stephen A. Jarjoura, but you may know me from various RPG related forums as runester. I started playing tabletop Role-playing Games (RPG’s) when I was around 12 years old, back in 1982. Back then, it was almost exclusively just my brother and I, and what little we knew about RPG’s came from our local game shop and the few copies of Dragon Magazine we could get our hands on.

For family reasons, we never played fantasy. My brother and I cut our RPG teeth on Star Frontiers, Traveler, James Bond, Top Secret/SI, and Champions (now Hero Systems). The most fun we had were, first in Star Frontiers, where we were corporate mercenaries in a far future sci-fi game of exploration, exploitation, and combat. The second most fun we had was with our superhero campaigns played in Champions (2nd & 3rd edition). [These origins heavily influenced me towards point-build, highly adaptable, game systems and away from strict class based / archetype systems.]

Gaming between then and now, has been spotty, especially since moving to Massachusetts. I was able to find a gaming group, but it was an almost comically bad example of Dungeon & Dragons, bad GM’ing, selfish player-characters, and crazy/uncouth players. It didn’t last long! [While the game was crap and the players were nuts, there was one exception and I'm still in occasional contact with her.] Since that group I’ve played in a 2 1/2 year campaign at a local gaming store, and now play in two bi-monthly groups (GURPS and D&D 3.5). This is probably some of the best and most regular gaming I’ve had in years!

Besides my gaming groups, it turns out that Massachusetts is a hotbed for indie game designers and local gaming conventions. I’ve been able to attend JiffyCon, but there is also MaulCon, V3 and others. Besides these local cons, I’ve attended GenCon twice and FearTheCon.

Jim Dunning
Jim (at) PftDCast (dot) com

Jim Dunning

I find your naivete ... amusing.

My name is Jim Dunning, and I am the new Co-Host for PFTD. I have been involved in ttRPGs since 1979; playing and GM’ing for over 30 years now. I first started with Dungeons and Dragons, but soon found many other games to play. My particular loves are D&D, Earthdawn, Shadowrun, White Wolf’s Storyteller, Savage Worlds, and Torg.

I served in the U.S. Army for six years, and while serving, my forced travel afforded me the opportunity to be a member of many different gaming groups.  I was exposed to many styles of gaming:  from Dungeon Crawling Munchkin Monty Hallers to Emo Gothic LARPers.  I’ve played in just about any gaming environment you can have nightmares about, and I have the emotional scars to prove it.  I love the memories of some of the worst games almost as much as the best ones.

I am currently involved in two weekly gaming groups where I GM and play on a rotation with others.  While this affords me the opportunity to “get my story on” fairly often,  I still find the need to consume other forms of media.  I am a fan of the storytelling art form, and love to see its many permutations in anything from Film or Literature, even to Video Games. I feel that there are no bad stories. Each one we encounter has some grain of value that we can learn from. Even Uwe Boll has something to show us, though its probably only how to not tell a story.

Jeb Brack
Jeb (at) PftDCast (dot) com

Jeb Brack, Bio Pic

Facing down the "Dread Beast of Cinci"

I’m Jeb Brack.  You may know me from such podcasts as Postcards From The Dungeon and…well, I haven’t been on any others yet, but I have high hopes!  My corporeal body is in its 40s, but my true birthday was Feb. 23, 1979, when I was given the original D&D box set.  Gaming has been part of my life ever since.  I tried all the early TSR games: Top Secret, Boot Hill, Star Frontiers, as well as Traveller, Aftermath, and others, but I played AD&D 1e almost exclusively until I discovered GURPS.  The idea of a fully customizeable game system was strong, strong, and for the last 15 years I have run games in almost every conceivable genre: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, action, cliffhangers, superheroes, psionics, and on and on and on.  Lately I have discovered and enjoyed other game systems like Fudge, QAGS, and Savage Worlds, but GURPS remains my favorite, and you will be assimilated.
Thanks to my wife’s career, I have lived and gamed all over the US, including NC, MD, ID, and MA.  I’m currently in a group in Cincinnati, Ohio, running a GURPS Serenity campaign.  GMing is my most frequent task as a gamer, but I love to play as a PC as well.  If I have a philosophy about running a game, it is that “Story Beats Rules”–an unusual approach for someone  who uses a system as crunchy as GURPS–but I believe role-playing is about creating a story with your players, not about slaughtering PCs with obscure bylaws.
As for the rest, I am a professional magician; I dabble in art doing pencil drawings; I enjoy writing, reading, movies, and TV (no, say it ain’t so!).  I also enjoy stealing plastic flamingoes from people’s front yards.

= = = Past Co-Hosts = = =

Michael Mills
Mike (at) PftDCast (dot) com

I’m Michael, co-host of PFTD. I have been on various Spooky Outhouse podcasts, and have a strong forum presence on the Fear the Boot website (where I have also published a couple articles), and on the Spooky Outhouse forums.

I began gaming as a teenager in the mid-nineties with my fathers gaming group. I have had many several year breaks from the gaming scene, but have always had a love for the hobby. In addition to being a roleplayer, I also dabble in video games from time to time, focusing on tactical and roleplaying games.

I also engage heavily in Medieval Combat Sports. I refuse to use the term “Larp” because I do not live action roleplay. I am a part of a combat driven organization of people who dress up in baggy clothes and hit people with padded sticks. Thats it, none of this “Roleplayers” nonsense.

In my off time, I practice the piano, and study music. I currently have gone back to school and am pursuing a degree in Forensics, and hope to apply to the Peace Corps. or the Army after I graduate.

| datetime 18 Oct 2009 4:34 pm

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