Hi all -

In case you have not caught up with us lately, Tales From The Hydian Way is still going strong, with recent episodes dedicated to using crazy gear for fun and profit, using capital ships as the heart of your story, and so much more.

We've had a slight change of crew, but the ideas continue to flow. If you're a long-time listener or just discovering us, drop us a note and tell us what you think and what you'd like to hear from us.

We'd love to know what stories you want to tell!

For the really old-timers, here's a link to the original forum thread - Season 1 thread

Love the show thanks guys.

Also enjoy the show, good insight. Glad it's shorter (under 40 minutes) it's hard to commit an hour or more to these things.

The Cap-Ship episode was pretty great. I was already itching to run a "Bridge Crew" game and this just expounds on that!

Yeah I love Tales from the Hydian Way, I try to listen to as many as I can. I often get ideas for my sessions from them. The 30 minute format is nice I concur. I quite liked it when you had 3 speakers.

I know it's been done before, but creative and interesting uses of advantage and threat are things I can never get enough of.

Thanks for all the feedback folks!

We try to record with all three of us, but there are times when real life means we can't all make a recording session, but those are exceptions rather than the rule.

I'm glad the 30ish minute format works for folks - we try for that, but occasionally get carried away

The using threat and advantage creatively is always fun, and is often situation specific. We'll highlight options as they seem appropriate - though all 3 of us have very different perspectives on those, so those conversations can also spur interesting differences of opinion.

Do let us know if there are other topics you want us to touch on.

Cheers,

Joshua

I feel like your show has really hit its stride, I look forward to it each week! I especially liked the unique organizations episode recently. I for one, wouldn't mind some more episodes like that, with you guys taking a theme, such as cantinas, shops, cities, even new planets or species, and creating some examples of original creations and what to consider while making them. Thanks for the great work!

The organizations episode was fun, though it certainly got...bigger...than we anticipated. One of your intrepid co-hosts (who will remain safely nameless ) got a little carried away and things sort of snowballed.

We are excited to do more things like that in the future, though perhaps keeping it within our normal 30 minute structure. I really like your suggestion for cantinas, shops, and new planets - those are kicking off some good ideas right now. I'll talk to Ben and David.

And the latest episode is out - Episode 67 on how to tell interesting stories with some of the less-used skills.

We talk about things like making Astrogation and Resilience fun, and how to provide hooks for players who take these and other 'support' skills.

Once you've had a listen, come tell us what you think.

Just in time for the Holidays, we discuss using such exciting elements in your game.

We go way beyond Life Day, and reveal our fondness for such modern holidays as March Madness, Black Friday, and curling, so check out Episode 68 , and tell us what your favorite Star Wars holiday is...and which ones we missed.

Hey folks, while you were holidaying, we were talking about Strongholds of Resistance on Episode 69 .

We explore the stories you can tell from the material here, and talk about how to adapt it your game, whether you play Edge, Age, or F&D. Apparently, I also talk about sorcerers

Give it a listen and then tell me whether you think a Gran can be the second coming of Horus...because that olde tyme religion is rather interesting.

So, Ben and I sat down to record a few days before Christmas, and promptly derailed ourselves talking about Keeping the Peace and specifically the Armorer...not our usual stuff, but Ben had a hot mic, so enjoy this bonus episode , and you may get some insights into how we talk before we do our episodes.

Happy Holidays!

So, despite holiday craziness, we finally got to sit down and talk about The Force Awakens in Episode 70 . We focus on how to use some of the ideas and techniques from the movie in your game.

Also spoilers.

And excitement.

And random theories.

Check it out and tell us what sorts of things the movie inspired for you.

So life has been complicated, and Ben & Dave recorded without me, talking about how to use mentors to help your players without overshadowing them - check out Episode 71, the Mentored Tale . Then come tell me who your favorite mentor archetype is...and the best way to get rid of them when the time has come.

I loved the leg-less grizzled old Bounty Hunter!

I loved the leg-less grizzled old Bounty Hunter!

That was a fun idea!

I think having mentors with serious flaws/challenges makes it easier for players to see why they aren't out there on some ****-fool crusade

Definitely. I listened to the Organisation and Mentor episodes back to back and saw so many possibilities between the two seperate themes. A party beginning their campaign as new recruits of the Rogue Rebellion Unit, their mentor being the incredibly Coercive Drill Sargent!!! Thats just mean but oh so much fun right there.

[...] their mentor being the incredibly Coercive Drill Sargent!!! Thats just mean but oh so much fun right there.

I read that as "Drall Sargent" and now I am off to make the best NPC ever.

[...] their mentor being the incredibly Coercive Drill Sargent!!! Thats just mean but oh so much fun right there.

I read that as "Drall Sargent" and now I am off to make the best NPC ever.

Bahahaha. Brilliant, probably has a DeVito accent and a cigar too.

I recently started playing in an Edge of the Empire campaign. In the leadup to the campaign, I binged your entire archive. Took me a few days, but gave me a bunch of ideas. I think you guys do an excellent job. I'm a podcaster myself, though on the X-Wing side of the house, so I understand how difficult it can be to get a cast together that sounds good. I want to complement your editor, whoever they are, for their excellent work on sound levels and pacing.

I would love to hear a cast about integrating X-Wing/Imperial Assault/Armada into the RPG. I've always toyed with the idea of doing an epic Star Wars day event where there are several games going on at once in different systems, all of which indirectly impact the other games. An Armada game represents the fleet engagement in system. X-Wing is trying to take out a comms relay that is allowing Imperial coordination. A major ground assault is bogged down in Imperial Assault. Meanwhile, the Age of Rebellion group is trying to shut down the planetary ion cannon and the Edge group is using the chaos to steal something.

I loved the leg-less grizzled old Bounty Hunter!

That was a fun idea!

I think having mentors with serious flaws/challenges makes it easier for players to see why they aren't out there on some ****-fool crusade

My F&D campaign revolves about the remains of the jedi in 2 BBY, trying to restore the order from the Dawn Temple (beginner game). So mentors/masters have a lot of other tasks, rather then escorting the PCs

Definitely. I listened to the Organisation and Mentor episodes back to back and saw so many possibilities between the two seperate themes. A party beginning their campaign as new recruits of the Rogue Rebellion Unit, their mentor being the incredibly Coercive Drill Sargent!!! Thats just mean but oh so much fun right there.

Glad you are getting mileage out of those ideas

And a Coercive Drall Drill Sergeant is about as amazing an image as I've ever seen

I recently started playing in an Edge of the Empire campaign. In the leadup to the campaign, I binged your entire archive. Took me a few days, but gave me a bunch of ideas. I think you guys do an excellent job. I'm a podcaster myself, though on the X-Wing side of the house, so I understand how difficult it can be to get a cast together that sounds good. I want to complement your editor, whoever they are, for their excellent work on sound levels and pacing.

I would love to hear a cast about integrating X-Wing/Imperial Assault/Armada into the RPG. I've always toyed with the idea of doing an epic Star Wars day event where there are several games going on at once in different systems, all of which indirectly impact the other games. An Armada game represents the fleet engagement in system. X-Wing is trying to take out a comms relay that is allowing Imperial coordination. A major ground assault is bogged down in Imperial Assault. Meanwhile, the Age of Rebellion group is trying to shut down the planetary ion cannon and the Edge group is using the chaos to steal something.

We're glad that you found the catalog useful (and that you survived the binge!).

Ben does the editing - it's no coincidence he likes the techie stuff in game

Dave & I really appreciate how he manages to make us sound like we know what we're doing.

The idea of integrating all the systems and games into something sparked some major conversation last night...definitely going to be a conversation in the not-to-distant future. The trick is setting it up in a meaningful way, and that requires time & resources...but you may have just mapped out an amazing convention event

I loved the leg-less grizzled old Bounty Hunter!

That was a fun idea!

I think having mentors with serious flaws/challenges makes it easier for players to see why they aren't out there on some ****-fool crusade

My F&D campaign revolves about the remains of the jedi in 2 BBY, trying to restore the order from the Dawn Temple (beginner game). So mentors/masters have a lot of other tasks, rather then escorting the PCs

Having busy mentors is certainly a great way to keep them from overshadowing the players! It sounds like you've got a fun game going on.

The mentor in my campaign was a Neti. She suffered a near-fatal injury during a confrontation with Darth Vader.

By the time the PCs found her, she had rooted in an ancient temple. She's slowly dying, but she wants to impart her teachings to the PCs before she lets go.

She has since developed a close bond with each PC, this allows her to communicate and train them, even when they are not around.