Saturday, July 19, 2014

[Interview #11] Mark Kinney, All Games Considered and The Gutter Skypes

Mark Kinney is a longtime podcaster. Nearly a decade, if I recall correctly.

He's the front-man of the 2009 Ennie Best Gold Award Podcast and 2010 Ennie Best Silver Award Podcast All Games Considered. Over 180 episodes is quite a feat, when many of my favorite podcasts have podfaded over the years.

I don't remember if I listened to him on AGC first or the Actual Play podcast The Rolemonkeys first. It really doesn't matter. If you missed The Rolemonkeys, you missed a great podcast, though there are two websites dedicated to them (1, 2), with a few episodes still there. I am missing a bunch of them, like the Vegas After Midnight session(s), but I'm pleased that I have some of them still on my computer.

Those first two podcasts lead me to others of his: another Actual Play podcast called The Byzantine Game (3 episodes, which he mentions in his interview below, and a short project page), his audio fiction (alas, no longer available), his sit-around-and-drink-beer-and-riff-on-geek-stuff I Wish I Had This Show in Real Life (6 episodes), his watch movies and comment Dice! Camera! Action! (1 episode) and his zombie-inspired Podcast of the Dead (3 episodes).

Besides his successful AGC podcast, his other long-running podcast is another Actual Play group called The Gutter Skypes. With over 130 episodes, they play a whole bunch of good games, games that have inspired me. Yes, they play RPGs over Skype and record it. Another hearty recommendation.

Mark was kind enough to sit down with us and answer some questions.

Onto the interview!



Otyugh Talk: What scenes in games are you completely done with and is that because you've already seen the best or worse example of it?

Mark Kinney: I've started to tire of the travel scene. I made a couple of attempts to do an "agents of King Arthur sent to investigate rumored evil in the Byzantine Empire" game (as once suggested in Ken Hite's excellent Suppressed Transmission column back in the old days of Pyramid) and I'd intended the voyage there to be an opportunity to gather allies. Instead, things would bog down halfway there, and neither attempt really ended up working. Next time, if there is one, I'll likely come up with specific scenes and hand wave the rest.

[Ed. I, too, recommend Suppressed Transmission by Kenneth Hite. First published in Pyramid magazine, then compiled into two books published by Steve Jackson Games. It's available in PDF format here and here for the low, low price of $8 each!]

OT: What game is the dirty little secret that you love to play?

MK: I've usually been pretty open with my gaming, but I suppose if pressed, I'd always wanted to make a game of Kult work.

OT: What's your favorite monster, after the Otyugh?

MK: I remember, back in the olden days, seeing that cover of the Fiend Folio with the Githyanki on the cover, and it fascinates me to this day.

[Ed. Githyanki are a favorite, as was the Fiend Folio – that full page illustration of the Grell was very cool]



Thanks for talking with me, Mark. Good luck on AGC's 2014 Ennie Nomination!

Remember: Otyugh Talk is the only gaming interview blog with interviews with 3 Marks and 2 Tims!

And more interviews to come! (Will it be with another Mark? A Tim? Perhaps an Ed? Who knows!?!?! so stay tuned!)

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