Every week, Now You Know recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, previews the Know Direction content of the week to come, and shares the thoughts on the state of the network from the director of operations, Ryan Costello.
Longtime listeners certainly know Darran Caldemeyer as the Know Direction Network’s official Countdown Correspondent. As far back as 2015, Darran’s put together graphics indicating how many days are left until PaizoCon in the last 30 day stretch. Below is, to my knowledge, the first such graphic he ever sent us:
He’s done this every year since, including several years where he wasn’t able to attend PaizoCon. They’re a fun way in which we get to engage with our fans on social media, and an idea he came up with, presented to us, and never asked for anything in return. On top of that, any time Darran joined us for a live recording of an episode, any time of year, he made sure to update us on how long we had until the next PaizoCon. I even proposed Renegade Game Studios use a similar format for a countdown to the G.I. JOE RPG, or as I thought of it, pulling a Darran Caldemeyer.
Darran recently reached out to let us know that it’s time to step away from the PaizoCon countdown. This made me far more emotional than I would have guessed. I reached out to Darran to personally thank him for all of his contributions, but I also want to publicly share how much I appreciate what Darran did for us.
Before he became the Know Direction Network’s official Countdown Correspondent, Darran helped us record seminars as part of the 2013 KD Con Team*. I know he was also on the 2015 KD Con Team, and I would be very surprised if he wasn’t on more. In 2018, he wrote an article hyping that year’s PaizoCon, and in 2020, he contributed Story Over Mechanics, Every Time! to that year’s Guest Blogger Takeover.
We have a lot of titles for KD Network members -staff, cast, board member- but Darran never officially joined the network. All of his contributions were out of love for Pathfinder and appreciation for the Network. Along with Justin Sluder, who I believe holds the record for most work on KD Con Teams for any non-Network member, Darran bridged the gap between fan and staff, helping us grow from a podcast to a network. I’m really glad to have known Darran for almost ten years at this point, and I’m grateful for all that he’s given to Know Direction.
*In case you tried to listen to the linked convention coverage, I recently had to archive several years of convention coverage to make room for more content. You may have noticed the latest Know Direction cut off during the outro. That’s because all but the last minute of that file was the most that our servers could handle. We didn’t even have room for banners for that day’s blogs. I decided that the best way to make room was to move a few hundred hours of old news coverage off the server and into storage. The last time we did something similar was when we archived the 3.5 Private Sanctuary episodes. We didn’t tell anyone, and we were surprised that we almost immediately heard from listeners who were digging into our old content.
Speaking of Network content, here’s a recap of the podcasts and blogs from last week at the Know Direction Network:
Recap of March 7th to 11th
What happened last week on knowdirectionpodcast.com and twitch.tv/knowdirection?
Monday, March 7th
Twitch
Know Direction 271 Live – Host Lore
As Vanessa put it, you can have a Lore skill about anything, so Know Direction made there’s about them! Learn more about Luis and Vanessa, and how they got into gaming and working in the industry.
Podcast
Intrepid Heroes 081 – Battle Royale!
Quote of the episode goes to Scott Keim, who suggested that when their enemy, Sgt Pludd, was below 50% of his HP, he was “Pluddy”.
Article
Now You Know – Happy Birthday Perram
By Ryan Costello
Here’s to Perram being born!
Tuesday, March 8th
Podcast
Know Direction 271 – Host Lore
This episode started strong, with stories new even to me about how Luis and Vanessa got into gaming. Then the episode veered into a lot of listener questions about getting into the gaming industry, which wasn’t the topic but could be a topic worth revisiting in the future.
Article
Eldritch Excursion – The Angriest Swashbuckler
By Nate Wright
Synergizing with the latest episode of Legend Lore, Nate breaks down some quirks of the 1e Swashbuckler, then introduces Indignation as an alternative to 2e Swashbuckler’s panache.
Wednesday, March 9th
Podcast
Game Design Unboxed 32: Pipeline
Danielle speaks to Ryan Courtney the designer of Pipeline published by Capstone Games about designing a business simulation, and about annoying a publisher into submission.
Article
Behind The Screens – Let Your Players Climb The Slide
In my unintentional occasional series about GMing lessons I learned from being a parent, I compare why kids want to climb up slides to why we GMs should encourage our players to think outside the box.
Thursday, March 10th
Podcast
Digital Divination 051 – The Charter System
Several sessions into their Starfinder Horizons of the Vast play, John and Ron share their impressions of the Charter System.
Preview of March 14th to March 18th
This is back to Block 2 of our 2-block schedule.
Monday, March 14th
Podcast
Valiant Episode 31
Our Valiant heroes continue to explore the Temple of the Whisperer.
Article
Now You Know – Shout Out To Darran Caldemeyer
By Ryan Costello
A lifetime achievement shout.
Tuesday, March 15th
Podcast
Young And Adventurous – Lost Maid of Anactoria 002
Scott D Young GMs the old Adventurous crew through a modified version of an adventure he wrote for Paizo, Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-17: Lost Maid of Anactoria.
Article
Fox’s Cunning
By Dustin Knight
Dustin offers expert insight and helpful tools to enhance your game..
Wednesday, March 16th
Twitch
Know Direction Beyond 67 Live – Precog Class Feature
Alex, James, and Vanessa take a close look at the precog.
Podcast
Presenting – Simone D. Sallé
John chats with Paizo Technical Editor and freelance author Simone D. Sallé about how she got her start and began working for Paizo.
Article
More Lore
By Scott D Young
Scott D Young’s deep dive into the minutia of Golarion lore and how you can use it to enhance your game.
Thursday, March 17th
Podcast
Legend Lore 41 – Goblins
Luis and Loren be goblin fans, and you be amused!
Article
Investing In
By Rob Pontious
Rob shares what he loves about the RPGs he’s been playing lately, and why you should check them out.
Friday, March 18th
Podcast
Know Direction Beyond 67 – Precog Class Feature
Go beyond, with Alex, James, and Vanessa.
Now you know,
Ryan Costello
