Prolific author and founder of BasedCon, Robert Kroese swings by to report on the success of this year's con and discuss his upcoming series The Cross-Time Crusade and annual Kickstarter.  The news this week includes a list of "creepy" board games, which inspires the guys, particularly RD, to talk about the Horror genre, Fall, and their love of getting spooked and the season.  A little off-book, but a fun chat nonetheless!

Back after fighting the 'VID on multiple fronts, the guys hit the ground running by taking a deep look at the current hotness in the #boardgame world, Sleeping Gods.  Does it live up to the hype?  The news is bizarre and, as always, does not disappoint.  After the news, the guys discuss the use (or neglect) of illness and disease in #DnD / #TTRPGs, inspired by their recent brushes with the virus that rocked the real world. 

This week, the guys talk as Bert prepares for a much-needed vacation.  Of course, "What games did you pack?" gets asked and the duo discuss their thoughts on taking board games on vacay -- and recommend some easy-travelling titles.  Soldering though a news segment ending with a #SparkleTroll list, Ryan is excited to welcome a guest to the show.  Richard Davis of Explorer's Guild Publishing stops by to close out the show and talk about his new project, Kobold Quest!

Ryan and Bert are honored to be joined by a great cross-segment of the gaming hobby spanning #OSR mainstays to #5e Content Creators to discuss the #WotC announcement of #OneDnD.  Hear the thoughts and opinions of Developer/Designer of The Chronicles of Aeres Greg Lambert, YouTube sensation Viktor Gorchev, Erik Jensen of the Wampus Country blog, and streamer Kevin of MagicUserGames added in with those of the Nerdcognito gang!  It's an entertaining AND enlightening chat that you cannot miss!

Ryan and Bert start strong by talking about low-level TTRPG encounters.  How do you make these just as memorable as the final showdown with the BBEG?  There is a lot of news this week, and the guys slog through before talking about dropping a game on a group of casuals.  In a social situation with "non-gamers" what are the best games you can use to give them the first taste?

Joe Hardin from Biggus Geekus swings by and talks about the censorship state of our hobby, specifically the impact on indie developers that don't bend the knee to the woke mob.  Joe highlights the thought behind the idea to launch Big Geek Emporium as an alternative marketplace to those who dictate content and segregate creators.  After the news, Bert and Ryan talk about how the "system transition" played out at the Nerdcognito table, and RD maintains that even though there was a player that dialed in from 1000 miles away, it was still an authentic face-to-face TTRPG experience.

Ryan starts out all by himself, but Bert quickly arrives in time to talk about... DriveThruMerger!?!  Roll20 and DriveThruRPG announce a partnership... what does this mean for the TTRPG hobby, pushing folks towards online gaming, and indie creators?  The boys roll through some news, which throws the boys back into their late teen years (RD worked... where?).  Afterwards, another "old" 2019 release hits the board game table and the guys run down and review "A War of Whispers" which finally got pulled off of the shelf of shame.

This week, real world fates altered our schedule and prevented a full episode from releasing.  Fear not, the boys were able to rally as Ryan had some concerns about the extraction of all that was compelling from the character of Dr. M'Benga on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.  He forced Bert to (finally) watch some NuTrek -- hear what the guys had to say about the first season's eighth episode, The Elysian Kingdom.  Is Ryan right?  In the SNW future has good doc become just a cardboard standee or is this par for the course for the stereotypical bad Trek episode?