Epic Adventure

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On this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about professions that you can get into either directly involved in the roleplaying game industry or those professions that roleplaying will help you get into.
Or at least that was the goal. You will see that we went an entirely different direction.
Christina, as a Dr. of Education games and game designing has played a prominent role in your profession. When did you realize that was going to be your thing and that gaming was going to be a big part of it?
Kick to Christina
Mike, You own a gaming company so we have to say that this topic is right in your wheelhouse.
Kick to Mike
Takeaways: Work Hard, Be Patient, Don't Give Up, Look for Opportunities.

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Welcome to you heard it here last where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
Our first news article is going to kill two birds with one stone.
https://ttrpgfans.com/origins-awards/
The Origins Awards winners were announced at this years Origins convention that was held in Colombus Ohio June 17th through the 21st. The Origins Awards are an annual award that recognizes excellence in the tabletop gaming industry, including board games, card games, miniatures and roleplaying games. First presented in 1975 at the inaugural Origins Game Fair in Baltimore, the awards are currently managed by the Game Manufacturers Association or GAMA.
The winner of the Roleplaying Game of the Year is the Land of Eem Deluxe Box Set by Exalted Funeral. 
Notably, Land of Eem is a rules-light TTRPG created by authors Ben Costa and James Parks (and based on their Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo graphic novels). It’s described as a lighthearted blend of Lord of the Rings and The Muppets, with a dash of Adventure Time thrown in for good measure.
The Winner of the Roleplaying Supplement of the Year is Call of Cthulhu: The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising from Chaosium.
The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is a campaign supplement for the Call of Cthulhu RPG, set in 1980s Japan. It reimagines the iconic King in Yellow mythos by having a lost, ancient scroll resurface with ties to a sinister entity. The book features three interconnected scenarios and, in addition to featuring many of the familiar Lovecraftian tropes, also explores the unique cultural and historical setting (which is a radical departure from the traditional 1920s setting of New England).
But before we dive into the winners and the long list of nominees, Dr. Christina attended Origins this year. Christina, how was the convention this year?
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, any thoughts on this year’s winners
[Kick to Mike]
Christina, what about you, thoughts on the 2026 Origin Awards Winners?
[Kick to Christina]
Our next news item will make Dr. Christina very excited.
https://ttrpgfans.com/masks-a-new-generation-rpg-second-edition/
Ten Years ago, Magpie Games released Masks: A New Generation, the ENNIE award-winning tabletop RPG of teenaged angst and superhero action.
Now, after more than a decade, Magpie has officially unveiled details for a new Masks Second Edition. The upcoming core rulebook will include new mechanics, character options, GM advice, artwork and lore for the setting of Halcyon City. The project will first land on crowdfunding, but you can sign up for alerts now on Kickstarter or the Magpie website.
Christina, on a scale from 1-10 just how excited are you about a second edition of one of your favorite roleplaying games?
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, I know this isn’t up your alley. But when Christina gets the second edition are you going to suck it up a play a session or two?
[Kick to Mike]
And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.

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I was sixteen years old in 1985, sitting around a table with a group of friends, a pile of dice, some character sheets, and a copy of the James Bond 007 roleplaying game.
Now, I'd seen the movies. I'd watched Bond race across exotic locations, escape impossible situations, and somehow always come out on top. But that day was different. We weren't watching James Bond. We were James Bond.
I still remember the adventure taking us through the famous speedboat chase from Live and Let Die. The GM described the engines roaring to life. The water spraying across the deck. The bad guys closing in behind us. Every turn of the river felt dangerous. Every die roll mattered.
What sticks with me all these years later isn't whether we followed the movie exactly. Honestly, I couldn't tell you. What I remember is the feeling. The excitement around the table. The tension as we tried to stay one step ahead of our pursuers. The laughter when something went wrong. The cheers when a crazy plan actually worked.
For a few hours, a bunch of teenagers in the Midwest weren't sitting around a table anymore. We were spies. We were secret agents. We were caught up in a world of danger, intrigue, and adventure.
And that's the thing about espionage as a genre. At its best, it makes you feel clever. It makes you feel like information matters. It creates suspense not because of what you know, but because of what you don't know. Who can you trust? Who's lying? What's really going on behind the scenes?
The older I get and the more games I run, the more I realize just how powerful those ideas are. Whether you're running fantasy, science fiction, horror, or historical games, espionage elements can elevate a campaign in ways that few other genres can.
So today, we're going to talk about the espionage genre. We'll look at where it came from, some of the movies, books, television shows, and games that helped define it, and the key ingredients that make spy stories so compelling. Most importantly, we'll discuss how you can bring those elements into your own tabletop roleplaying games to create adventures filled with mystery, intrigue, tension, and unforgettable moments.
Because sometimes the most exciting thing at the table isn't defeating the villain.
It's discovering who the villain really is.
Mike, do you have any specific memories of your favorite espionage movie?

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Welcome to you heard it here last where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/paizo-laying-off-12-due-to-fallout-from-diamonds-bankruptcy.719446/
No one likes layoffs
Piazo, the publisher of Pathfinder among other games has announced it will be laying off 12 employees due to the fallout from Diamond Comics bankruptcy last year. We discussed the Diamond Comics bankruptcy and the possible fallout from that in a previous episode of You Heard it Here Last, but it looks like the ripple effects are starting to kick in.
Piazo states they lost over 2 million dollars in 2025 due to the seizure of their books being held by Diamond Comics on consignment. And the layoffs as well as other cutbacks are temporary until they can start to see some profitability.
2 million bucks in our industry aint chump change. It’s a big deal and it’s a shame to see companies like Piazo having to deal with the fallout.
Mike, give us your business thoughts on this one.
[Kick to Mike]
Christina, how about your ethics hat, anything to discuss with this one?
[Kick to Christina]
Next, we find ourselves going back to Hasbro and D&D.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-beyond-admits-that-blocking-drops-sharing-was-not-the-right-decision-will-release-yearly-bundles-of-drops-content-for-sale-for-non-subscribers.719383/
D&D Beyond has released a statement about its decision to not allow sharing on their new drops. We talked about this announcement on a previous YHIHL and evidently the users have expressed their dissatisfaction. In a post D&D Beyond stated "It’s become clear from your feedback that there were two main things we got wrong with D&D Beyond Drops: content sharing and non-subscriber access," the post also states that not allowing sharing for drops "was not the right decision."
They followed this statement up with doing…absolutely nothing to change it.
So, I guess an admission of a mistake is something, but damn it. Fix the mistake. It’s easy to just turn on sharing again, or am I asking for too much.
Mike, thoughts?
[Kick to Mike]
Christina, what about you?
[Kick to Christina]
And there you have it, all the news you’ve already heard.

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Have you ever had this awkward moment in your roleplaying game?
“As you turn the corner you come face to face with an animated walking corpse! Give me a Fright Check”
“Uh, this game doesn’t have fright checks.”
“What, Seriously…hang on, surely it has a mechanic…crap.”
If so, then you are not alone. I pretty much pulled that dialogue word for word out of one of the games I was running.
The more games you play the more you learn about game systems, what works, what doesn’t work, and more specifically what you like. Now I am a fan of playing a variety of systems. We change games up a lot, not just because I like to try new genre’s but because I want to try new systems and over the years I have found a few mechanics that I think are just amazing.
On this episode we are going to talk about our Favorite Mechanics in roleplaying games. The little things that we might take for granted originally but as we move from game to game we realize we can’t live without them.
Mike, Chistina and I are going take turns revealing our favorite game mechanics, what game they came from, or at least what game we first encountered them, and why we think they are the bomb.
Let’s just dive right into this one.
Mike, give me one of your favorite game mechanics that you just can’t live without.