- 1 hour 10 minutesEpisode 698: A Common or Government Bar
The Gaming Hut looks at the key difference in scenario design, between what happens to the player characters, and what they can do.

The Tradecraft Hut checks into a classic London spy world location, St. Ermin’s Hotel.

Still in London, the Food Hut unpeels the 1633 banana astonishment.

Finally Conspiracy Corner engages in flightless Canadian content by unpacking the curious tale of the British Columbia ostrich cull.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.

Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
8 May 2026, 8:30 am - 1 hour 9 minutesEpisode 697: Supposedly Good Idea Hall of Fame
Taking inspiration from a previously dropped idle phrase, the Gaming Hut proudly presents Dinosaur Flying Aces.

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Jake Maas, a home state edition of the Crime Blotter investigates Chinese mob involvement in Oklahoma grow farms.

Estimable backer Mark K convenes the Cinema Hut to ask Robin to expand his comment about the structural issues of movie whodunnits.

Finally, the Eliptony Hut seizes the chance to cover a fresh new example of alleged US military super-tech, the Ghost Murmur Device.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.

Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
1 May 2026, 8:30 am - 1 hour 4 minutesEpisode 696: Too Ready in Some Cases
The Gaming Hut advises players assigned the role of ringer or traitor.

The Archaeology Hut tours the Papoura Hill Circular Structure in Crete, recently added to the list of possible inspirations for the labyrinth myth.

Ripped from the Headlines looks at Nepal’s fake mountain rescue scam.

Finally Ken’s Time Machine reveals what 11th century England looks like without one of history’s most notable murderous weasels, Eadric Streona.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.

The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.

Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
24 April 2026, 8:29 am - 1 hour 3 minutesEpisode 695: You’ve Clearly Never Dealt with Balloon People
In the Gaming Hut we wonder what encumbrance rules would look like if they were fun.

The History Hut profiles a figure who appears in Ballad Hunters, the servant who passed herself off as a Javanese royal, Princess Caraboo.

The Horror Hut looks at the installation horror sub-genre.

Finally the Consulting Occultist gives us the lowdown on frequently arrested Elizabethan magician Simon Forman.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.

The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.

Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
17 April 2026, 8:30 am - 1 hour 1 minuteEpisode 694: The Age of Plentiful Miniatures
The Gaming Hut provides tips for staying true to the path of the doom as a player in Page Turners.

The Monster Hut ventures into the forest for a meeting with its protector, the curupira.

Finally Ken’s Bookshelf paws over a mere half of the plunder from Ken’s recent Bay area shopping excursions.


Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.

The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.

Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
10 April 2026, 8:30 am - 1 hour 7 minutesEpisode 693: Suits or Whippersnappers
In the Gaming Hut Ken recaps his just-concluded, seven year long FALL OF DELTA GREEN campaign.

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Sam Harris, the Culture Hut reveals why there had to be two separate blues titans named Sonny Boy Williamson.

The Narrative Hut wonders if a credible motivation for murder is necessary for a proper whodunnit.

Finally the Eliptony Hut profiles Edwardian parapsychologist Harry Price.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
From the depths a new Megabundle arises, with enough savings to drive a boat through. Grab the Trail of Cthulhu Megabundle from Bundle of Holding before it sinks beneath the waves. $17.95 for eight titles including the core book, or beat the current threshold to add another seven.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.

Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
3 April 2026, 8:30 am - 1 hour 1 minuteEpisode 692: Guys Who Hate Mustaches in Kent
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Manfred Gabriel, the Gaming Hut shows how to keep the heat on the PCs when they’re on the run.

Whether he’s a legend, an alias, a symbol, or as in Ballad Hunters, a supernatural being, the Mythology Hut knows all about General Ned Ludd.

The Stock Character Hut withers under the gaze of the stern matriarch.

Finally, under orders from estimable backer Anders Gabrielsson, Ken’s Time Machine arranges the wider adoption of Sherlock Holmes’ favored martial art, bartitsu.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.

The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.

Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
27 March 2026, 8:30 am - 1 hour 13 minutesEpisode 691 – From Such Triangles As
The Gaming Hut entertains a salty take as we wonder whether GMs who say rules don’t matter are actually using them in the first place.

Beloved Patreon backer Pagurus unrolls a Cartography Hut segment on maps and deception, as revealed in Mark Monmonier’s How to Lie With Maps.

Equally beloved backer Irène Delse invokes her Tell Me More powers for a Book Hut segment on the theft rings that preyed on northeastern US libraries in the 1930s, as detailed in Travis McDade’s Thieves of Book Row.

Finally the Consulting Occultist regales you with miracles attributed to Pythagoras.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.

Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
20 March 2026, 1:08 pm - 1 hour 25 minutesEpisode 690: Never Look It Up
The Gaming Hut takes you through the process of devising a supporting cast for a Page Turners scenario.

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer bt, the Crime Blotter ponders the ritual significance of the flower-bedecked effigy at the funeral of Chicago mobster Mike Merlo.

Finally, as is their wont at awards time in the Cinema Hut, Ken and Robin share their top ten movies of 2025.


Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
13 March 2026, 8:29 am - 1 hour 5 minutesEpisode 689: Bring Out the Claw
In the Gaming Hut we explain why idiot plotting is an even bigger problem in tabletop rpgs than fiction or movies.

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ginge the Tradecraft Hut rips the lid off of the submarine exploit that was Project Azorian.

The Mythology Hut goes to the woods to reveal the surprising truth about the Green Man.

Finally the Eliptony Hut profiles recently departed pseudoarcheaology promoter Erich von Daniken.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, now available from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
6 March 2026, 8:30 am - 1 hour 15 minutesEpisode 688: Earthquake Marriage
In the Gaming Hut we create a Page Turners protagonist.

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard the Architecture Hut examines the work of Julia Taylor, from the Chapel of the Chimes to Hearst Castle.

In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Robin talks to Tristan Zimmerman about his game Ballad Hunters, a GUMSHOE Labs game Kickstarting soon from Pelgrane Press.

Finally estimable backer Sam Harris assigns Ken’s Time Machine to find out what would have happened if Sun Records music producer Sam Phillips’ peace overture to Cuba had worked out as he hoped.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.

Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
27 February 2026, 8:30 am - More Episodes? Get the App





