Yaruki Zero Podcast #3: Interview With Clay Gardner

The Yaruki Zero Games Podcast’s first interview is with Clay Gardner, designer of OVA: Open Versatile Anime. In this interview Clay shares his insights on the game’s development and publication, as well as his experiences interacting with the fans and his future plans for the game.

Yaruki Zero Podcast #3 (25 minutes, 34 seconds)

Show Notes

• OVA is available in PDF form from RPGNow.
• R. Talsorian Games did lots of anime games, and V-Max magazine.
• Clay’s first favorite anime: Record of the Lodoss War
• Battlemaster High, the freeform RPG thing that was the original inspiration for OVA’s system.
• Dream Pod 9’s Silhouette System was another influence.
• OVA’s artists include Svetlana Chmakova, Dupuy J. Dee, Niko Geyer, Kelly Hamilton, Min Kwon, Lina, Chihiro Milley, Diane Michie Neill, George Panella, Allie Strom, Elly Susanto, and Hans Tseng
• OVA has some errata. Check here for info on the upcoming revised version.
• Infernal Funhouse’s RandomAnime.

Next Time
The next episode, #3½, will be a reading of the first chapter of Slime Story: The Legend of Doug, the novel I’ve been working on based in the same setting as the RPG of the same name.

This podcast uses selections from the song “Click Click” by Grünemusik, available for free from Jamendo.com. If you like the song, consider buying some CDs from Nankado’s website.

Yaruki Zero Podcast #2: Anime and RPGs

Ewen talks to himself about the relationship between Japanese animation and role-playing games at length. What do people mean when they say “anime” in the first place? What kinds of anime RPGs already exist, and what kinds could exist?

Yaruki Zero Podcast #2 (31 minutes, 24 seconds)

Episode Outline
1. Introduction
2. Perceptions of Anime
3. The BESM Paradigm
4. “System Does Matter” and Anime
5. Anime Fans and RPG Fans
6. Closing Comments

Show Notes

• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Anime cons include gothic lolita, Asian Ball-Jointed Dolls, etc.
• Comiket, Japan’s largest doujinshi event.
• Other anime RPGs: OVA, RandomAnime, Tinker’s Damn
• BESM 1st Edition. Mark C. MacKinnon is a huge Amber Diceless Roleplaying fan.
• The UnSpeakable Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
• The Arianrhod RPG from F.E.A.R.
• Anime-inspired indie RPGs: Panty Explosion, Bliss Stage, Bounty Head Bebop, Misery Bubblegum, Seiyuu
• Dramacon by Svetlana Chmakova, Scott Pilgrim, by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Next Time
The next episode will be an interview with Clay Gardner, creator of OVA: Open Versatile Anime.

This podcast uses selections from the song “Click Click” by Grünemusik, available for free from Jamendo.com. If you like the song, consider buying some CDs from Nankado’s website.

Thoughts on Podcast #1

On the whole I would cautiously call my first attempt at podcasting a success. Granted, I think maybe six people actually listened to it, most of whom are my friends, but then the first one wasn’t terribly relevant to anyone who isn’t already familiar with my stuff. And, I haven’t made any real effort to advertise it at all except for mentioning it on Twitter and my LiveJournal, something I won’t get into doing until I’m more confident that this will be a regular thing. It was fun and not too terribly time-consuming to do, and after listening to the result a couple times, I think I’m off to a good start. One listener even complimented my voice. O_o

I’m going to sit down and do some planning before I get too carried away, not to mention get some advice from the very small number of people I know who actually do media type stuff. Removing some of the sources of distracting noises (Trillian and my squeaky chair) will help, and I need to look into music for bumpers (I’m thinking of using this song; nice and relaxing) and some other things.

I don’t really want to commit to having a regular “broadcast partner”, but I definitely do want to get other people to join in and talk about stuff. I like being able to babble on by myself without any worries about the logistics of assembling multiple people, and no matter what I’ll be doing that at least part of the time, even if I’m not confident about keeping up with the Paul Tevises of the podcasting world (in terms of being a good solo podcaster). On the other hand, I’m very interested in talking to people with different perspectives on gaming. Of course, whether in person or over Skype, I need to work out the technical stuff for actually doing that, and recruit people to talk to.

Some tentative ideas for future shows:

• Anime and RPGs. A solo show where I blather on about the intersection of Japanese animation and role-playing games.
• My group’s experiences with D&D4e.
• Something about how RPGs have changed over time.
• Maid RPG. A lengthy discussion of the game, ideally involving Andy K.
• Japanese TRPGs. A long discussion of the Japanese tabletop scene. Again, getting Andy involved would be essential.
• I want to talk to my friend Tim about the freeform role-playing scene that flourished at his middle school.
• Likewise, I want to talk to Guy about the gaming scene in Israel, and how he interfaces with the online RP scene.

Yaruki Zero Podcast #1: Opening Remarks

This is my first attempt at a podcast, basically a dry run at talking into a microphone. In this installment, I give a quick summary of my “career” as an RPG gamer, from playing Robotech back in the 7th grade up to the present, and a bit about what I’ve been working on.

Yaruki Zero Podcast #1 (26 minutes, 34 seconds)

Show Notes

• Palladium’s Robotech RPG, the first RPG I played.
• Toon: The Cartoon Roleplaying Game, the first RPG I owned and GMed.
• World of Darkness stuff: Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade
• Thrash, my fighting game style martial arts RPG.
• Indie Games: octaNe, InSpectres, Run Robot Red, Enemy Gods
• Mascot-tan, a weird little game by yours truly.
• Epic games using Fudge, Truth & Justice, OVA: Open Versatile Anime
• Japanese RPGs that especially influenced me: Maid RPG, Yuuyake Koyake.
• Projects of mine: My Games, Raspberry Heaven, Slime Story
• Slime Story influences include 3:16, Mouse Guard, Meikyuu Kingdom, Primetime Adventures, In A Wicked Age, etc.