Episode 116: Okay, I’ll Go Get Your Leg
November 21st, 2014 | Robin
The Tradecraft Hut takes an unusual lead slot as Ken answers an FMGuru request for the tale of WWII Soviet spy Richard Sorge.
Horatio stands to our right and Laertes to our right as the Gaming Hut contemplates the use of supporting characters as foils.
Blasting his trumpet for Dreamhounds of Paris, the Consulting Occultist begins a mini-arc delving into the French occult, starting with scientist, spiritualist and polymath Charles Richet.
Even more brazenly touting Dreamlands, our just-opened Culture Hut kicks off an in-depth series with Surrealism 101.
Attention, class! Anchor sponsor Atlas Games wants to enroll you in Mad Scientist University, the card game of evil genius, insane assignments, and unstable elements. Act now, Ken and Robin listeners, and they’ll throw in the Spring Break expansion set for free. Shipping within the US is also free.
Show Ken you love him, and/or hate bloodsuckers, by kicking a few pounds in the direction of his Dracula Dossier Kickstarter. Learn what MI6 doesn’t want you to know about the king of the vampires.
Heroically fashion a new civilization from the ashes of the old in Legacy: Life Among the Ruins, from UFO Press. Start your multi-generational quest to rebuild the world with a journey to Kickstarter.
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Sorge’s father was German, so the name would be pronounced ZOR-geh. Forvo has good audio examples.
Yep. That’s also how we pronounce it in Russia.
And mr. Zhukov is best pronounced ZHU-khov. Zhu almost, but not quite as in JU, much denser.
Corrections department: When referring to William S. Burroughs’ influences, I misspeak and say “Arthur Miller.” As you all know, I mean “Henry Miller.”
Hey Ken and Robin,
Like many gamers of a certain age I have 7 or 8 linear feet of RPG books lying fallow on groaning shelves. What cool mechanics and setting nuggets can be mined from these treasured tomes. Do you find yourselves ever waxing nostalgic for a forgotten “Torg” grapple rule or a monster from the “Lord’s of Creation, Book of Foes”? Feel free to call this the “Talislanta Hut”.
-Tom Allman
While I’d also be interested to hear Ken and Robin do this, I think it’s fair to mention that it’s been a recurrent topic in the podcast Improvised Radio Theatre With Dice – which should be linked from my name, above.
RogerBW, I am a big fan of Improvised Radio Theatre With Dice, and that is one of my favorite segments. I was hoping to get a game designers take on the subject as well as yours and Michael’s. I also have a burning desire to know what they have lurking on their bottom shelves. Cheers
Reader Request:
I love the show and the work Ken and Robin put into it.
I heard on the Ideology of Madness podcast that Ken and Robin might be working on a Cthulhu campaign set in ’30’s China. This sparked an idea about the Three Kingdom’s period.
What are Ken and Robin’s ideas about linking the Yellow Turban rebellion with that most infamous of monarchs and subject of a suppressed play?
I’d love to see a picture of the cutout; does one exist?
[…] to Podcasts – Ken and Robin have been talking about Richard Sorge, foils in RPGs, Charles Richet, and an introduction to Surrealism; the head of Henry IV, character choice, Gerard Encausse, and Andre Breton. Dreamhounds and Dracula […]
Ich mache mir wirklich große SORGEn, Robin.
Didn’t you learn any german in two visits to Hannover spielt! ?! 😉
Random comments:
On another pronunciation note, the “g” in Gestapo is also hard (“Geheime Staatspolizei” or “Secret State Police”). “G” in German is always hard … the English pronunciation of “German” notwithstanding. 😎
Alan Pinkerton is sufficient reason for any number of spies to be disregarded by their masters.
This might have been the only situation in the history of English that “foilage” was not a misspelling of “foliage”.
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Episode 116: Okay, I’ll Go Get Your Leg « Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff