Every week, Recall Knowledge recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, a preview of the Know Direction content of the week to come, and the director of operations, Ryan Costello, thoughts on the state of the network.

A few weeks ago, this happened.

That’s my mom, sharing an article on the combat wheelchair coming to Dungeons & Dragons. For more on that story, check out Know Direction 234 – Sensitivity and Inspiration, in which we talk to Combat Wheelchair creator Sara Thompson.

My mom isn’t particularly active on social media, so it’s rare for her share an article on Facebook. Rarer still is seeing her talk about Dungeons & Dragons in anyway. And in a positive light? Unheard of.

I don’t bring my family up much on the podcasts because, unlike Perram, I’m an only gamer. Sure, I played Monopoly and the standbys with my parents and three brothers growing up, and Catch Phrase shows up at family gatherings. Beyond that, I’m the only gamer and only geek really. The only times my mom brought up D&D was to warn me not to get so caught up in it I “bring my Dungeon Master the blood of a loved one.”

Montreal is far from the centre point of the Satanic Panic, and my family is not religious, but my mom was a parent in the 80s, a regular watcher of 20/20 and similar news magazine shows, and a huge Tom Hanks fan. Some combination thereof lead her to worry about RPGs as a bad influence. She didn’t ban me from playing, mind you, just warned me to be vigilant. Beyond that, she might ask me questions about my podcast and game design, but out of interest for my involvement, not the hobby itself.

All that to say, I was surprised and pleased to see my mom share a purely positive article on Dungeons & Dragons to her wall. The combination of D&D and geek media’s mainstream penetration, and the good will gained by those who thrive to make our hobbies inclusive and diverse brought a positive light to one of my favourite hobbies in my mom’s eyes. It’s a nice feeling.

Circling back to Sara Thompson for a second, she mentioned in the KD 234 interview that she worked with Paizo on Starfinder and Pathfinder equivalents of the combat wheelchair. However, she couldn’t say where they would show up. Well, the recently announced Pathfinder Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar product page lists new accessibility items as a selling point of the book. Although that isn’t straight up staying this is the book for the Pathfinder combat wheelchair, it’s a safe bet.

Speaking of content, here’s a recap of what you might have missed last week from the Know Direction Network:

Recap of February 1^st to February 5^th

What happened last week on knowdirectionpodcast.com and twitch.tv/knowdirection?

Monday, February 1^st

Podcast

Stellar: E016 — It’s Been Stellar

Sadly, Stellar came to an end. Vanessa Hoskin’s Starfinder actual play of Against the Aeon Throne was a blast while it lasted. As a fan and a network director, I’m sad to see it go. But I’m happy it got to end and not just fade away.

Article

Recall Knowledge – Stellar Send Off
By Ryan Costello

I talk about how I’m a fan of Stellar and why I’m sad to see it go.

Tuesday, February 2^nd

Patreon

Patron’s Private Sanctum 14

The GameStop stock news had just broken when we recorded this episode, so Perram and I spend a lot of the episode going over it and sharing our thoughts. Then we move on to the MCU.

Podcast

Legend Lore 019 — New Player Guide, Part 3: Tips & Tricks

Luis and Loren end their new players series in a clever way, reviewing common mistakes, misunderstandings, and the tips they’ve learned over the years that improve the Pathfinder 2e experience.

Article

Fox’s Cunning – Fight Like a Fox Part 1
By Dustin Knight

2e simplified combat maneuvers to the point that one of the only challenges to running them is residual 1e complexity muddying a player’s understanding of the rules. Dustin Knight to the rescue! Dustin put together a Combat Maneuver cheat sheet that demystifies how deceptively simple 2e combat maneuvers are.

Wednesday, February 3^rd

Discord

Geek Together

Geek Together is supposed to happen once a month, on the off week that is neither a Know Direction nor a Know Direction Beyond recording. However, because Geek Together has no set cast or format, scheduling it is challenging. To stream to Twitch, we need one of our OBS trained producers (which I am not), and then a concept, and finally volunteers. Often no one wants the extra work and the GT gets cancelled.

No longer! Not wanting to skip this week’s GT, but not able to stream it, I decided that what I do know how to do -a Discord voice channel- would be a suitable substitute. And how about that, a bunch of people showed up! We had such fun that going forward, this will be the new Geek Together format.

Podcast

Presenting – Dave Nelson

Last seen in Know Direction 217, Dave Nelson’s back!

I laughed when John said that Dave was on the show because he said he was available. That’s exactly how Dave ended up on Know Direction. The cold call is such a valuable tactic for freelancers, and I recommend it. You never know when a content creator is stumped for a topic or behind on scheduling.

Article

Iconic Design: A Cat Packing Heat and Boots (PF2)
By Alexander Augunas

Two Iconic Designs in a row? That hasn’t happened in a long time. Also, I can’t remember the last time Alex wrote a Pathfinder 2e Iconic Design. I know Alex was critical 2e character creation, as was I. Between the gunslinger being his first 2e Iconic Design since October 2019, and how much I enjoyed making my Inventor, I wonder if the APG worked out more character creation kinks than I realized.

Thursday, February 4^th

Podcast

Valiant Episode 9: In Which Cantrips Are Powerful

I kept waiting for Langley v2 to show up.

I know Legend Lore is where Luis shares his tips for playing and running 2e, but I find Valiant is also a showcase of good GMing. Between Luis casual mastery of the adventure’s story and setting, and his behind the scenes segments, there’s a lot a GM could learn listening to Valiant.

Article

Investing In: Virtual Horror Con 2021
By Rob Pontious

As sobering as it is to know that we’re starting to see second annual virtual conventions, it’s also nice to know that con runners who had to improvise virtual cons last year are better prepared and looking forward to their virtual cons this year.

Friday, February 5^th

Podcast

Geek Together – A Barrel of Fun

After editing and scheduling this episode, I previewed it to make sure it uploaded properly. Standard stuff. Not standard, I ended up listening to the first 10 minutes or so even though I’d just heard it. I am glad this episode turned out as well as it did. Thanks everybody!

Article

Monstrous Physique — Monaxians, Playable Groundhogs (SF)
By Luis Loza

You might mistake Monstrous Physique for a comedy game design blog. Sure, it’s loaded with pop culture references and Easter eggs. Still, Luis builds thought out, fully functional creatures that you can use in your games with confidence. Usually that only applies to GMs, but here he even provided the Racial Traits for the Monaxians so players can make their own Medium sized Groundhog people characters.

Preview of February 8^th to February 12^th

This is back to Block 1 of our 2-block schedule.

Monday, February 8^th

Article

Recall Knowledge – RPG Mainstream Attention, Inclusion, and My Family
By Ryan Costello

I could have used today’s editorial to talk about how there won’t be an Adventurous again this week, but we’re trying hard to get a make up recording or two in before the next Friday we’re all (tentatively) available to record, February 18^th. Instead, I dedicated my editorial to a cute story about my mom. I’m OK with this.

Tuesday, February 9^th

Patreon

PF2.KD Update – Incapacitation Reimagine

Perram and Alex share a dislike of the Incapacitation trait, and it was one of the hacks Perram detailed in Know Direction 233 – Pathfinder 2e Hacks and House Rules. I’ll be formalizing his thoughts and seeing if there’s other design space there in the next PF2.KD Update.

Podcast

Digital Divination 023

John and Ron talk GMing Starfinder for experienced GMs who are new to Starfinder. 

Article

Burst of Insight by Andrew Marlowe

Andrew Marlowe shares GM and design advice for and from other game systems.

Wednesday, February 10^th

Twitch

Know Direction 243 Live! Ancestry Guide Breakdown With Luis Loza and Eleanor Ferron

Let the hardcover coverage begin! 2021’s first Pathfinder hardcover, Pathfinder Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, is here, and developers Luis Loza and Eleanor Ferron join us for a breakdown.

Podcast

Game Design Unboxed 8: Abandon All Artichokes

Designer Emma Larkin talks about the challenges in designing light games.

Article

Groundbreaking by Randal Meyer

Groundbreaking returns after a six month hiatus! Randal picks up where he lefts off, looking at incorporating different flavours of magical training into the setting. 

Phantasmal Killer by Crystal Frasier

Crystal Frasier turns new concepts and narrative tropes into subsystems for a variety of RPGs.

Thursday, February 11^th

Podcast

Know Direction 243

The latest episode of Know Direction, the Know Direction Network’s flagship podcast.

Article

Something Creates by Andrew Sturtevant

Andrew continues his series on creating a Starfinder archetype for his original quest line.

Friday, February 12^th

Podcast

Intrepid Heroes 53

An actual play podcast of the Starfinder Adventure Path Dawn of Flame from Paizo, currently GMed by book 4’s writer, Paizo developer Ron Lundeen.

Article

Bend The Knee by Loren Sieg

Loren Sieg, the DovahQueen herself, asks elaborate gaming questions of game industry personalities, Know Direction staff, and our listeners.

 

Now you know,

Ryan Costello