Misdirected Mark Productions   /     Cypher Speak Episode 8: High-Powered Games

Turn it up to 11. Darcy & Troy discuss high-powered play, both through leveling up to higher tiers and through power shifts, which enable play with superheroes and gods.

Shout-outs:

• Inspiration for supers games: Whelmed: The Young Justice Files – A brilliant, moving, funny, accessible podcast that elaborates on the fantastic animated TV show Young Justice, which is streaming on Netflix and recently had a 3rd season announced! Hosts Caleb (of The RPG Academy) & Rich (of Tribality) are fabulous humans who bring to life the DC Universe and the excellent storytelling of YJ, even for people who had never touched that universe of media (like Darcy). They also have the support of many of the YJ creators, artists, voice actors and so on, and have really high profile guests with excellent conversations (except for Darcy’s). Support their Patreon if you like it!
• #HackWeekGang: Troy & Darcy play at hacking, but these podcasts are where to go for real discussions of hacking games! Some of the best hosts in the land, as well!
  • Modifier Podcast (Twitter) is an interview-style podcast hosted by Meghan Dornbrock on the One Shot Network that focuses on “cool ways people alter games and gaming in the pursuit of better storytelling and a super fun time!”
  • Stop, Hack, and Roll (Twitter) hosted by the fabulous James Malloy and Brandon Leon is a discussion-based podcast “about modifying, hacking, and houserulesing games.”

Poddities

• Troy: Brandon Sanderson’s superhero book series, The Reckoners (and many other excellent books!). The Reckoners is about superpowered people who experience a darkness the more they use their powers, turning them further into villains. The Reckoners are non-powered people trying to take down these supervillains. Great inspiration for playing with the “high power at a cost” trope!
• Darcy: ConTessa is an organization that promotes and supports leaders in gaming who identify with historically marginalized or edged-out groups (such as women, LGBTQA+, people of color, people with disabilities, and more). Our events are run by people who identify as “other” in some way, but we welcome EVERYONE to participate in our events and play in our games!
  • We’re looking for more gamemasters at Gen Con, and you can get your badge reimbursed if you run at least 6 hours of games and volunteer for 4 hours.
  • We also are running an online convention weekend around International Tabletop Day – come play or run things! I’m hosting an RPG Brunch discussion and am running a one-shot of Numenera!

Keep in touch & let us know your thoughts on the show!

• Tweet at us:
  • @CypherSpeakPod
  • @TroyP23
  • @DarcyLRoss
  • #CypherSomeone
• Email us: cypherspeakpod@gmail.com
• Review us: Cypher Speak iTunes Page
• Edited by Casey Ross

Thanks for all the support so far!