Around the Hearth

Welcome to the first episode of a new series on the Around the Hearth podcast feed: Known Territory: GMs Talk Games. Each episode we sit down with an experienced game facilitator who has played a specific TTRPG extensively. They will discuss how they pitch the game, best practices for running, useful tools, potential pitfalls, and more. We hope this will be a useful primer for both GMs and players interested in this game.

For this first episode we have on Jim Crocker to discuss Band of Blades, Evil Hat's military fantasy Forged in the Dark TTRPG. Jim's run complete campaigns of this striking and complex story game of military survival and horror.

Jim on itch.io

Games Mentioned
Band of Blades
Band of Blades on Roll20
Blades in the Dark
The Watch
Night Witches

If you dig this series, please rate, review, and subscribe.

This episode's host is Lowell Francis,  designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin. He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community. He's the co-author of the Transverse Noir series of Shadowrun novellas. You can find Lowell's work on YouTube, on Itch.io, and on DriveThruRPG.

Help Rae Recover Links
Support or donate at https://patreon.com/swordqueengames or https://ko-fi.com/matthewarcilla

Music: ‘Mission Control’ by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
Support us on Patreon!
Our actual play podcast can be found here
Follow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpg
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpg
Mastodon: @openhearthrpg@dice.camp

What is Around the Hearth?

Around the Hearth features discussion on a wide range of topics relevant to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) featuring members of the Open Hearth Gaming Community. We talk games, gameplay, design, and the games being played at the Open Hearth Gaming Calendar. Our online games are free and open to all! If you'd like to join the fun, visit openhearthgaming.com for more information.