No, it’s not a Spielberg movie. It’s the board game sensation of the 1970s adventure gaming industry, Cosmic Encounter by Eon Productions. A simple yet innovative system lets each of the alien races a player chooses change powers and goals to ensure no two games are the same. Your Fab Four totally normal humans from Earth review the game, how it’s aged, and what inspiration 21st century gamers can find in its mechanics....

Space, the final frontier — or the first, as far as RPG space gaming went. Gamescience’s Space Patrol beat Traveller to the punch in 1977, but was lost in the shuffle of its better known rival’s little black books. But this little game has some good points to consider, even for today’s jaded gamer. Listen in as we cover aliens, planets, a startling lack of starships…and equipment with no cost? No Kzinti were harmed...

It’s time for your Fab Four Halflings to accept their fates…FATE Core, that is! We sit down and cover our first FATE game in the guise of The Dresden Files RPG, based on the bestselling book series by Jim Butcher. We learn about Fate Dice, Aspects, and how DM Jim’s questions leave DM Corbett with answers that involve a lot of the word “maybe”. Wizards complaining about fireball ranges, vampires in bowling...

Yes there was in fact a North Texas RPG Con this year; both virtual and live tracks. Your Halflings read some emails and then discuss their time at the con. Chris Holmes, son of J. Eric Holmes, was the only one of us actually in person at the convention, and so he tells the “live” part of the convention activities. Who ran what? Who attended what? And we answer the most important question of all; who killed Colonel Mustard? No...

Timeship has, let’s say, a checkered reputation in the RPG community. This episode your intrepid Halflings delve into a game that mandates a player play themselves, travel back in time, and (among other things) kill Hitler. What’s not to like? More than you’d think with a opening like that. Will DM Jim ever forgive DM Mike for choosing this game? Listen and find out! No players were harmed in the making of this show,...

What more can we say about episode 25 of Save for Half? Only they’re awful, they’re green…and they’re from outer space! Yes, it’s that quirky Tom Wham boardgame first published in Dragon magazine #28, and was in its 8th edition in a box set from Steve Jackson Games. Come join the Halflings aboard the Znuta as we fight aliens, no matter what side you’re on! No Awful Green Things were harmed in the making...

Save for Half is back with another sideshow, this time featuring the return of the Arch-RPG Historian himself Jon Peterson! He joins the Halflings for a discussion of the seminal D&D fanzine Alarums & Excursions, and we discuss the first five issues of that APA; now available online as pdfs. Articles, filk songs, and recipes are discussed with varying degrees of efficacy on this somewhat tardy sideshow… No D&Ds were...