We’re back and we’re resorting to violence again. Combat is a large part of roleplaying games, arguably disproportionately so. Even in Call of Cthulhu, a game where academics, librarians and antiquarians carefully search crumbling ruins and pore over forbidden tomes in search of knowledge that will either save or doom humanity, sooner or later most groups load up on shotguns and dynamite, reciting their favourite lines from eighties action movies and bringing fiery destruction to all they survey.The Good Friends of Jackson Elias is a podcast about Call of Cthulhu, horror films and horror gaming in general. The hosts each had a hand in the new Call of Cthulhu 7th edition: co-author (Paul Fricker), editor (Scott Dorward) and a scenario author (Matthew Sanderson).
Unlike our look at the combat mechanics of 7th edition all the way back in episode 23, this is more of a general discussion about the role violence plays in games. Why is combat such a huge part of RPGs, and Call of Cthulhu in particular? Why do many games have devoted combat sections while modelling genres where violence is a rare thing? Why do most characters in RPGs fight to the death as a matter of course when fictional characters or real people rarely do so? Why do fights in games tend to be long, repetitive and mechanical, and how can we avoid this? We dig into these questions, as well as offering ideas for making combat scenes more interesting.
The show may contain occasional swearing and is thus NSFW.
Runtime: 80 min
Previous episodes include discussions of 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu rules, stories by H.P.Lovecraft, Gencon, interviews with game designers and much more.
For further information and more episodes visit:
http://blasphemoustomes.com