Now You Know – A Holiday Tradition

Every week, Now You Know recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, previews the Know Direction content of the week to come, as the director of operations, Ryan Costello, shares his thoughts on the state of the network.

Most of the history of the Know Direction Network saw gradual growth while remaining fairly consistent. The last few years reversed all that, instead featuring rapid changes. One tradition that is carrying on is the annual Know Direction Holiday Special.

This marks the fifth edition of this holiday tradition. Despite working on the network together year round, other than a few games some of us play together, the Holiday Special is the only day each year a lot of the Know Direction staff hang out together. Heck, this’ll be the first time some of the staff even meets! I’d love to make the time for more hangouts like this throughout the year, but the Holiday Special ensures I do it at least once a year, and it’s something I look forward to as a result.

We’re still working out the details, but right now the plan is to meet in the Patron’s Private Sanctum on the Know Direction Discord server, where Patrons can listen in and provide questions via text chat for the network staff gathering in the virtual family room, by the virtual fire, stockings hung virtually with care. Depending on staff availability, we’ll probably swap people in and out throughout the night. Maybe we’ll randomize it!

Speaking of our Patrons, thank you all so much for your continued support. I know the main reward is keeping the network’s lights on and bills paid, but we used to at least offer regular live chats after our Twitch shows. I admit that part of the reason we’re moving to Discord is that it’s easier to produce while also participating than a Twitch broadcast, but it’s also to give our Patrons at least one live show to enjoy this year.

The live recording will be exclusive to Patrons, but the episode will release to the site’s main feed, as usual.

Speaking of Know Direction Network content, here is what went out for our fans to enjoy last week:

Recap of December 11th to December 15th

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

Monday, December 11th

Article

Now You Know: What Even Is Time?

Sorry about the missed content, folks.

Tuesday, December 12th

Podcast

Game Design Unboxed 78: Diced Veggies

Veteran designer Josh Cappel talks about co-designing an award winning game with his some and niece. My favourite part was how humble Josh sounded when he admitted his teen co-designers kept his instinct to add complexity in check, resulting in one of his most positively received games.

Wednesday, December 13th

 

Article

Eldritch Excursion – Aggressively Humble
By Nate Wright

Speaking of brilliant simplicity, Nate turns villainous history into PC backgrounds.

Thursday, December 14th

Podcast

Digital Divination 098 – First and Favorite Characters

Before John and Jason became veteran gamers and RPG industry professionals, like the rest of us, they started as newbs. They share their debut characters as well as some of their favourite PCs.

Friday, December 15th

Article

Essential Builds – The Grinch
By Ryan Costello

So far, no word from the Suess legal team over creating an Essence20 PC based on The Grinch.

Preview of December 18th to December 22nd

Block 1 of our 2-block schedule.

Monday, December 18th

Article

Now You Know – A Holiday Tradition
By Ryan Costello

Soon, we shall have our figgy pudding.

Tuesday, December 19th

Podcast

Know Direction Beyond 80: SF2@PAXU

Alex played Starfinder 2e at PAX Unplugged a couple of weeks ago and he’s sharing his thoughts with James and a live Twitch audience. That, and a closer look at the Field Test Mystic.

 

Thursday, December 21st

Article

Investing In
By Rob Pontious

Rob goes deeper into his thoughts on Pathfinder Remaster.

Friday, December 22nd

Podcast

Upshift 028

Jason and I banter about the media we’ve consumed this year. Maybe we’ll apply it to Essence20, maybe we’ll just share our thoughts.

 

Now you know,
Ryan Costello

Ryan Costello

What started as one gamer wanting to talk about his love of a game grew into a podcast network. Ryan founded what would become the Know Direction Podcast network with Jason "Jay" Dubsky, his friend and fellow 3.5 enthusiast. They and their game group moved on to Pathfinder, and the Know Direction podcast network was born. Now married and a father, Ryan continues to serve the network as the director of logistics and co-host of Upshift podcast, dedicated to the Essence20 RPG system he writes for and helped design. You can find out more about Ryan and the history of the network in this episode of Presenting: http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/2021/01/presenting-ryan-costello/