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.
As is tradition, Know Direction spread a bunch of lies on April 1st. Even though a stigma’s developed around the idea of April Fools, especially online where misinformation thrives, I believe we’ve always struck a balance of jokes that are only believable for a second, but the fun is the satire in the rest of the article. That said, I wasn’t involved in any of the pranks this year, as the staff came up with their own April Fools material.
The joke may have been on us this year, though, as a major Paizo announcements just before the 1st meant some of our audience couldn’t tell where the joke ended and reality began. To clear up any confusion, yes, it’s true that Abomination Vaults is being adapted to 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons for a special hardcover release. Paizo will continue to support 2nd edition Pathfinder first and foremost, with some of the material eventually getting a 5e conversion.
If you’re still confused, Luis and Vanessa interview Ron Lundeen, Paizo’s developer on the 5e conversion, in tonight’s live recording of Know Direction.
Speaking of Know Direction, here’s a recap of the Know Direction Network content that came from last week:
Recap of March 28th to April 1st
What happened last week on knowdirectionpodcast.com and twitch.tv/knowdirection?
Monday, March 28th
Podcast
Valiant Episode 32: In Which They Talk To Some Ants
I’m kind of disappointed the title of this episode didn’t continue to update us on when they do and don’t talk to undead. Not disappointed, the return of Luis’ GM interludes! Although in this case, Luis wore his podcast producer hat to talk about the challenges of planning a session around podcasting the adventure.
Article
Now You Know – Hero Forge Friday
By Ryan Costello
You may wonder if Hero Forge Friday was all a ruse for Alex’s Emperor’s New Clothes Kitsune. In fact, it was 100% the truth. We have more Tuesday content than Friday content (except when April Fool’s falls on a Friday), so Hero Forge Tuesday moved to fill the gap.
Tuesday, March 29th
Patreon
Patron’s Private Sanctum 40
Ever wonder about KD staff’s first video game consoles?
Podcast
Young and Adventurous 003 – The Silver Servers
This is one of a few encounters that completely unintentionally tie into our Adventurous heroes’ past experiences.
Wednesday, March 30th
Patreon
KD: Beyonderer 002
When Know Direction: Beyond is not beyond enough for you, go Know Direction Beyonderer!
Discord
Upshift Live – G.I. JOE A.M.A.
The G.I. JOE Roleplaying Game officially released on Tuesday, so I took to Discord to answer listener questions about the experience. Flying solo for a highly interactive episode of Upshift, I decided to switch from Twitch to Discord, a platform I’m much more comfortable recording off of.
Podcast
Presenting – Lysle Kapp
Lysle Kapp is a lawyer and a freelance Pathfinder designer. John was prepared to talk about that kind of crossover talent, since his good friend, Ron Lundeen, is also a lawyer who works in Pathfinder game design.
Article
More Lore – Creating a Campaign Guide
By Scott D Young
A good way to highlight what setting material is important to your campaign, including the setting material you’re creating, is a campaign guide. Scott talks about the basics of writing one.
Thursday, March 31st
Patreon
Patron’s Private Sanctum 41
And with that, I’m caught up on my aftershow backlog!
Podcast
Upshift – G.I. JOE A.M.A.
As with any audience-directed content, I was nervous if I would get enough questions to fill an hour. Fortunately, an informed and interested crop of fans showed up with their questions, and I not only had more than enough content to fill an hour, I had a fun selection of questions to draw from. This hour flew by for me.
Don’t get used to Thursday Upshift releases, by the way. It just happened this episode didn’t need much editing, I had time since I wasn’t hosting a Downshift this week, and I didn’t want to bump into the April 1st content.
Friday, April 1st
Podcast
Legend Lore 042 – Paizo Goes 5e!
The Legend Lore and Digital Divination hosts did not inform me that they’d be swapping hosts as a gag. I did find it strange when I message Luis and Loren about the network’s tradition of tying episode 42s to destiny (for Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy reasons) and was met with non-committal answers.
So, John and Ron took over Legend Lore and covered the legitimate news story of Paizo releasing a 5e product, followed by the not real at all news that Paizo was abandoning Pathfinder 2e and would delete your rules knowledge from your brain.
Digital Divination 053 – Sci-Fi vs. Fantasy RPGs
Like John and Ron, Luis and Loren not only switched shows, they switching formats. The hosts opened the show with the much faster “I’m Luis,” “And I’m Loren, and this is Digital Divination” followed by some catching up and banter before covering the topic of why Fantasy RPGs are so samey and yet more successful than most sci-fi RPGs. It was a fun topic, even if the episode was presented as a prank.
Article
Fox’s Cunning — The Optimiser
By Dustin Knight
Using the new trend of Know Direction receiving exclusive previews of Paizo content, Dustin shared the next Pathfinder 2e class, the optimiser. I dare you to allow this in your campaign. I DARE YOU!
Preview of April 4th to April 8th
Block 1 of our 2-block schedule.
Monday, April 4th
Twitch
Know Direction 273 – Abomination Vaults for 5e
Paizo developer Ron Lundeen joins Luis and Vanessa with all the details about Paizo’s upcoming Abomination Vaults adaptation to 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons.
No umbrellas necessary, the sky’s not falling.
Podcast
Intrepid Heroes 083 – Gone to the Dogs
“No, you surrender if you want to live!”
Article
Now You Know – Facts From Fools
By Ryan Costello
Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet, but it is true that Paizo’s releasing 5e content.
Tuesday, April 5th
Podcast
Know Direction 273 – Abomination Vaults for 5e
Another big episode of Know Direction for Pathfinder news.
Article
Eldritch Excursion
By Nate Wright
Nate Wright’s journal of flavour and mechanics.
Wednesday, April 6th
Podcast
Game Design Unboxed 34: Synchronized
Danielle speaks with Amelie Le-Roche, o-designer and artist of Synchronized published by her company Zerua Games.
Article
Behind The Screens – Run An Inefficient Game
By Ryan Costello
A lot of GMing advice tries to streamline your game. But I’m here to tell you, my fellow GMs, that an overly efficient game burns through our Game Master bandwidth much faster, to everyone’s detriment.
Thursday, April 7th
Podcast
Digital Divination 54
John and Ron talk Starfinder.
Friday, April 8th
Article
Monstrous Physique
By Luis Loza
Luis makes monsters.
Now you know,
Ryan Costello
