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.

Last week, Jenny Jarzabski made her Know Direction Network debut when she joined Alex, James, and Vanessa on Know Direction: Beyond 56 to talk Starfinder Society season 4. All three hosts actively participate in Starfinder’s organized play program, as GM, player, Venture Officer, and designer, so the conversation covered much ground and granularity.

One aspect that did not change throughout the interview was the tone. All four participants love organized play. They reveled in where their experiences overlapped and diverged. It is this passion that I love most about organized play.

This Wednesday, Paizo’s Organized Play Managing Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer and Organized Play Associate Alex Speidel will be on Know Direction prime for the Pathfinder side of that conversation. John Godek cohosts in my place, both because his OP experience eclipses mine lately, and my bronchitis hasn’t passed. Like with Know Direction 245, I get to enjoy what a guest co-host brings to the podcast as a listener. Specifically, I look forward to hearing Perram and John’s passion for PFS.

Participating in organized play takes time and effort. While I haven’t had the time for it since I gave up my role as Venture Lieutenant of Montreal, I fully believe the effort was worth it. And I miss it. I’ve thought about and even worked out the logistics of diving into PFS locally a few times in the past few years. It’s still not congruent with my other obligations, but it stays on my mind. For now, I get to participate in Societous on Know Direction’s Discord, and love vicariously through the organized play experiences of the network staff.

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

Recap of March 15^th to 19^th

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

Monday, March 15^th

Podcast

Legend Lore Special Edition: One Shot Part 1: Meet Stabby’s Group

With Session Zero under our belts and a bit of familiarity amongst the players, it’s time for our characters to shine as we continue to stretch the definition of “One Shot”.

Article

Recall Knowledge – Keeping It Brief
By Ryan Costello

I don’t have COVID, so that’s good.

Tuesday, March 16^th

Podcast

Legend Lore 022 — Monk

Hey, it’s a class feature! Monk’s a class I criticized in our review of the 2e CRB for some of the design choices (mainly that I felt it should have been keyed to Wisdom, and left more design space for the brawler). I overlooked the monk’s potential to be a fun class, which Luis and Loren opened my eyes to with this episode.

Article

Fox’s Cunning – Fight Like a Fox Part 3: Fluffy Tails Edition
By Dustin Knight

With combat maneuvers covered by the last two installments, Dustin’s latest Fox’s Cunning builds two very different kitsune combat maneuvers characters.

Wednesday, March 17^th

Podcast

Presenting – James Ballod

John talks with the network’s own James Ballod. With every other staff member, the network represents a platform from which they can reach greater heights in the industry. James has always been different. I appreciated the opportunity to get insight into how and why.

Article

Guidance: I Love Starfinder, Except for These 5 Things
By Alexander Augunas

Although Alex considered Starfinder his favourite d20 RPG, he spotlights 5 areas in which he feels the game suffers. None of which are starship combat!

Thursday, March 18^th

Podcast

Valiant Episode 12: In Which They Delve Into the Glass Treader

This episode had one of my favourite Valiant moments. Luis described a shadowy warrior and every PC did all they could to avoid a confrontation. No one flat out said that they just thought this warrior seemed cool, or they agreed with him that they were in the wrong for invading his territory, but the subtext was clear and delightful. Luis seemed poised to say “roll for initiative” for a while, but the players kept throwing other non-violent workarounds his way.

Article

Investing In: Improv in Gaming
By Rob Pontious

Rob diverted from his regular formula, talking about an experience across all games rather than a specific RPG he enjoys or a Pathfinder subsystem he’s exploring. Shout out to improvisation as a tool!

Friday, March 19^th

Podcast

Know Direction: Beyond 56 – SFS Season 4 with Jenny Jarzabski

As I mentioned in this week’s editorial, Listening to Paizo Organized Play Developer Jenny Jarzabski share her love and excitement for Starfinder Society warmed my heart. A lot of the episode focused on characters, events, and in-jokes I had no knowledge of or experience with, but hearing how joyfully everyone discussed them made me want to know more.

Article

Monstrous Physique — Silk (SF)
By Luis Loza

Luis has done the lion share of the network addressing the recent shooting in Georgia and the ongoing mistreatment the Asian American and Pacific Islander populations deal with, and I want to thank him publicly. Between his aside in Valiant and picking a subject for the latest Monstrous Physique -Spider-Man family character Silk- that positively illustrates an Asian character in popular culture, he has been speaking up while the network’s remained unfortunately and uncharacteristically silent on the issue. I apologize for that oversight.

If you’re interested in helping, Luis provided a variety of valuable resources, which I’ve reprinted here:

ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE RESOURCES

ASIAN AWARENESS PROJECT

Stop Asian Hate

Google Doc Resource List

Preview of March 22^nd to March 26^th

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

Monday, March 22^nd

Podcast

Adventurous 053 – Fiery but Mostly Peaceful Protests

We can’t do anything simply, can we?

Article

Recall Knowledge – Organized Passion
By Ryan Costello

You see, because they’re passionate about Organized Play.

Tuesday, March 23^rd

Podcast

Digital Divination 026

John Godek and Ron Lundeen dive deeply into a Starfinder topic.

Article

Burst of Insight by Andrew Marlowe

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

Wednesday, March 24^th

Twitch

Know Direction 246 Live –  PaizoCon Online and the Future of Organized Play with Paizo Organized Play’s Linda Zayas-Palmer and Alex Speidel

With PaizoCon Online 2021 on the horizon, Paizo’s Organized Play Managing Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer and Organized Play Associate Alex Speidel join Perram and guest cohost John Godek to talk about what to expect from PaizoCon Online this year, especially with regards to Organized Play.

Podcast

Game Design Unboxed 11

Danielle Reynolds, Ben Moy, and Denice talk with tabletop game designers about their published games, and the journey bringing their design from inspiration to publication.

Article

Groundbreaking by Randal Meyer

Randal Meyer brings a Pathfinder campaign setting to life, one blog post at a time.

Thursday, March 25^th

Podcast

Know Direction 246 – PaizoCon Online and the Future of Organized Play with Paizo Organized Play’s Linda Zayas-Palmer and Alex Speidel

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

Article

Something Creates by Andrew Sturtevant

Andrew Sturtevant creates Starfinder content, and shares insight into his decisions and his struggles along the way.

Friday, March 26^th

Podcast

Intrepid Heroes 56

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 asks the tough questions, and a panel of RPG industry insiders and hobbyists answers her.

 

Now you know,

Ryan Costello