* Go listen to the TrapCast. They’re funny.

* James is listing his gaming books here. Mention that you heard about it from the Podge (before paying, obviously) and get 10-25% off!

* V3 was a huge success

* Intra-Party Conflict (which is different than inter-player conflict)

* Mechanic-based conflict resolution systems

* Organic vs. Synthetic Conflict

* Dangers of Intra-Party Conflict

* Follow the discussion with a handy outline on Plus 1

* James is listing his gaming books here. Mention that you heard about it from the Podge (before paying, obviously) and get 10-25% off!

* Tope Dome is touring in your city soon!

* Winners of the Top Down and Bottom Up campaign contests, Dan Henson and Dan Marlett (Double Dan)

* We stop talking about Mike’s mom…no we don’t.

* David vs. Joe: THUNDERDOME! (Worst vs. Lesser)

* Group Design

* Goals, party pitches, and conflict

* Role maximization

* Follow the discussion with a handy outline on Plus 1

* Mr. T is a Night Elf Mohawk, Ted Talks, and Imagining the Tenth Dimension

* CONTEST! Win D&D Minis

* Hodge (live): The Tome Show celebrates 4e’s first birthday

* Thank you to our armed service members past and present

* Five Guys hamburgers is sexworthy

* Luke has closed his business and is now a hobo

* James is listing his gaming books here. Mention that you heard about it from the Podge (before paying, obviously) and get 10-25% off!

* Buy Storm Cloud, David and Luke’s (et al.) anthology

* Different methods of character generation

* Pre-flighting your character

* Character-Focused (Who-What-Why?)

* Mechanics-Focused (What-Why?)

* Character Optimization and the Brilliant Gameologists

* Character-Study Approach

* Joe’s char-gen notes are available in Plus 1 (really, we promise!)

* V3 is June 6th (V3 location information will appear at the end of our episodes beginning with episode 42)

* Last week’s contest Google doc form is here (click the link). We also clarify evolutionary items.

* Campaign Design, the Bottom Up approach. You can find an outline, and actual notes on the Plus 1 page.

* What beginning steps mirror the Top Down approach.

* Character generation and the character theme

* Establishing conflict

* The Character Domino Effect

* Adventure (non-character) focused Bottom Up design

* The Fog of War

* All podcasters are liars, except for 3/4 of the PodgeCast

* A SECOND CONTEST! Go ahead and click here to open the form and submit.

* Matt goes insane

* Ideology also had their Week of Mice with Weapons

* Donate your old cell phones to Cell Phones for Soldiers

* Deadliest Warrior and other cool TV shows. Adam kept calling it Ultimate Warrior, which is a crappy show. This is the actual show Deadliest Warrior.

* Luke needs playtesters for “Project MG.” Email him at luke@podgecast.com

* Joe was a guest host on Kicked in the Dicebags: Episode 5

* Adam is going to record a bonus video to show you how to “double record” if you’re looking for alternative recording methods

* Campaign Design, the Top Down approach. You can find an outline, and actual notes on the Plus 1 page.

* Pre-Planning Phase

* The Three Pillars of System Selection

* Pre-Player Phase (PPP or P³)

* Scope Your Game

* Evolutionary Items (like a Monkey Trial)

* The Fun Cooker

* Themes

* Organizations and our inherent nature to group

* Conflict

* Character Generation and Player Input

* Why (and why not) to plan your first show

* Why (and why not) to use box text

* Matt’s campaign document is on the Plus 1 page in the Episode Resources

* Scoping this discussion

* Announcing…THE CONTEST! You can enter here.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the tubes
Not a poster was posting, not even the noobs;

Subscriptions were made on iTunes with care,
In hopes that Uncle Jimbone soon would be there;

The listeners were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of beer nipples danced in their heads;
And Adam on stripper pole, Luke in wide stance
Had just settled down for a long bromance
When up on the intarwebs arose such a clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the laptop I flew like a flash,
Opened Firefox and went to the PodgeCast.
The glow of the screen on my angry eyebrows
Made me look happy, lord knows how
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a bottle of moonshine and a hoedown right here,
With a lively ol’ jig and a skip in his walk,
Uncle Jimbone arrived and began to talk.
More rapid than eagles the forum posters came,
He clambered and clattered and called them by name
“Now Havick! now Dunphy! now Mr. Keith Curtis!
On Becca! on Gaerma! on Tim White!” he blurted.
“To the top of the nets! To the Outhouse Wall!
Now Podge away! Podge away! Podge away all!”
Quicker than flamers trolling the forums,
The listeners gathered and began to swarm;
So off to a wing night the fans they flew,
With beer and weck and barbecue too.

And then, with a clacking, I heard through the haze
Dice shucking and rolling as Uncle Jimbone plays.
Burning Wheel in my hand, I knew it would be,
The Uncle would sit in on this week’s KTNG.
Dressed in overalls, from his feet to his skull,
Recording with Jimbone would never be dull;
A bottle of whiskey he had flung on his back,
So much to drink that we never would lack.
Velociraptor, David, and Table Saw too,
But Matt Cushman got lost when he went to the loo!
Luke wooed and he hollered and he talked with a lisp;
He smiled and said, “I’ve been Pocalapalypsed!”
With his bottle of hobowine, a modern McGyver,
He drank like a host of Accidental Survivors;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a jolly eyeballologist,
And I laughed at his impression by the Brilliant Gameologists;
With Walker and Meg and Dave along too
Adam still couldn’t segue, there’s nothing to do;
Uncle Jimbone spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the aggregators then turned with a jerk,
There were only so many of our jokes he could stand,
And after an hour it was too much to demand;

He sprang to the chat room and gave the listeners a wink,
Then he logged off and timed out and disappeared in a blink.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he shot out of sight,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

Musical solo by Jennifer J. Notch.

* An Archon reminder

* Ghost Hunters Redux

* Min/Maxing and Powergaming

* 365 Days of Sex

* Secret Code Contest: We’ve teamed up with four other gaming podcasts to give you a crack at $250 of gaming goodness. Listen to find out how you can participate.  Participating podcasts are

Atomic Array

Brilliant Gameologists

Ogre Cave Audio Report

The Podge Cast

The Tome Show

Each winner will receive one of ten $25 gift certificates from Noble Knight Games.

Entries must be submitted to secretcodes@moonstew.com by 17 OCT 2008.

* Worst. Ending. Ever.

* PodgeCast Overtime: Matt and Joe further explore today’s topic, Charlie Rose style.  If Charlie Rose had very lax quality control standards. This conversation is not part of the podcast mp3 but is available for download at podgecast.com /episodes /TPC_011_Overtime (dot) mp3