Being at home during a pandemic forced us to find new ways to entertain ourselves. One of the ways that’s worked best for us is playing games online. So, in that spirit, we’re kicking off a new series at The Flickcast called What We’re Playing. 

Each week we’ll highlight a game we’re playing at home. For the first installment of What We’re Playing, we turn to an old favorite: Dungeons & Dragons. 

D&D was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and first published in 1974. Since then its popularity grew considerably. Even with a slump in the late 80s and early 90s, D&D is still played by millions of people around the world. That popularity has exploded even more during the last year or two. You can probably guess why.

If you’re not familiar, or have never played, you may wonder “What’s D&D?” For that we turn to Wizards of the Coast, the company who publishes the game. From their official D&D website:

“The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more.”

Sounds fun, right? Traditionally, D&D is played by a group of friends sitting together at a table. One person is the Dungeon Master, or DM. This person creates and runs the game, spins tales of adventure, plays all non-player characters (or NPCs) and generally is the go-to for all rules and what happens during the campaign.

The players (not the DM) create characters of their own and rollplay them during the game. You can choose from a variety of character occupations including fighter, ranger, rogue or wizard and races such as human, elf, dwarf or halfling. Then, once characters are created, players explore dungeons or ancient ruins, interact with NPCs and creatures like Orcs or Giants and even, yes, fight an actual dragon.

That’s how it’s usually done . . with everyone together around a table. But what if getting together isn’t possible?

We thought it would be great to link to other blogs, websites, podcasts, videos and stories that caught our fanc,y or we think deserved to get noticed, during the week. So, to further that, and spread a little love around, we’re bringing back the Weekly Link Love.

No, it’s not an original idea. Lots of people do it. And we’ve done it before too. Granted, it’s been a minute. But that doesn’t matter.

We think it’s important to bring it back and uplift others, especially these days. So, welcome back the Weekly Link Love.

Since we produce a podcast, it made sense to start with some of the ones we listen to on the regular and enjoy. Find the links below. Spread the love. 

The Beerists – For the love of craft beer. Podcast produced in Austin, TX. 

Dragon Talk – The official Dungeons & Dragons podcast.

The Erasable Podcast – The No. 2 pencil podcast about, you guessed it, pencils. 

HomeWork – The podcast by and for people working at home. 

Inside of You – Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville’s Lex Luthor) interviews great guests.

The KingCast – A Stephen King podcast for Stephen King obsessives.

The Pen Addict – We love pens and pencils, so this podcast is a favorite.

Random Trek – Scott McNulty discusses a random episode of a Star Trek series with a non-random guest.

Scriptnotes – Screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters, with John August & Craig Mazen. 

Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast – A tech podcast for the gadget lovers and tech heads with Marques Brownlee.

WTF? – Marc Maron interviews everyone and gives his personal views on issues of the day. 

That’s it for this week. Let us know if you find an interesting link you’d like to share. Until then, don’t forget to spread the love.

Welcome to a brand new episode of The Flickcast, a pop culture podcast about stuff nerds love. On this week’s show Chris welcomes guest Ashley Warren to talk about a whole bunch of stuff they love.

A small example of this includes writing and her writing process, her love for Dungeons & Dragons, what it means to be a DM’s Guild Adept, working from home, creating official D&D content, saving the world and a whole lot more.

It’s a big episode chock full of insights, thoughts and ideas. Plus, they manage to have some fun along the way too. Hope you enjoy it.

And be sure to check out all of Ashley’s work at her website ScribeMind, the RPG Writers Workshop, the DM’s Guild and find her most recent project Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden wherever D&D adventures are sold.

Thanks for listening.

WARNING: This episode may contain discussions about COVID-19, mental health and quarantine. We understand not everyone is in a place to talk about or hear discussions surrounding these issues. Please do what’s best for you. Stay safe everyone.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, Instagram or, yes, even Facebook. Or shoot us an email. We don’t mind.

Photo: Wizards of the Coast

Opening and end music by Kevin MacLeod under Creative Commons License

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It’s a brand new episode of The Flickcast. We’re still doing this . . . and we couldn’t be happier about it. We hope you are too. 

On this episode Chris and Joe take a minute to talk about the show’s newly-launched Patreon. Speaking of that, here’s the link if you want to support the show: The Flickcast on Patreon. Thanks!

They also get into other topics including Bill and Ted Face the Music, the upcoming new TV version of Stephen King’s The Stand, New Mutants, the upcoming Obi-Wan series, The Mandalorian, other Star Wars project ideas, Star Trek: Discovery, other Star Trek shows and, of course, the usual more. 

Picks are back this week too. Yes! On this episode Chris picks the amazing, live D&D stream/series Critical Role and Joe takes the easy way and picks Bill and Ted Face the Music. 

WARNING: This episode contains discussions about COVID-19, mental health and quarantine. We understand not everyone is in a place to talk about or hear discussions surrounding these issues. Please do what’s best for you. Stay safe everyone.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, Instagram or, yes, even Facebook. Or shoot us an email.

Also, here’s that Patreon Link again, just in case you missed it the first thousand times. Thanks!

We’re back baby!

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We’re back again with an all-new episode of The Flickcast. Be happy because it probably won’t last. But for now …

On this week’s show, Chris and Joe discuss and debate more Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn’s personality, upcoming TV series like Shutter Island and The Omen, Denzel Washington’s career and his upcoming Equalizer movie and the brand new season of Doctor Who.

Guess which of your favorite hosts liked the season premiere and which didn’t? Not that hard to figure out. Of course, that’s not all they talk about. There’s also the usual “more.”

Picks this week include Chris’ pick of the just released D&D Player’s Handbook from Wizards of the Coast and Joe’s pick of the movie Locke, featuring Tom Hardy and a car.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship, or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook, Google+ or via email.

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Like movies, TV shows and most every other form of entertainment these days, games also have trailers. But not just video games, although they do all the time, tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons do as well.

Case in point today is the release of the brand new trailer that highlights the next epic D&D adventure. Said adventure is called The Sunderling and it’s part of The Forgotten Realms setting. The trailer also helps inaugurate the following new Dungeons & Dragons products – both digital and analog – which all are set in The Sundering:

• The newest season of D&D Encounters, Legacy of the Crystal Shard, starts today! These in-store events take place every Wednesday at local hobby shops and allow both inexperienced and seasoned players to join forces for the ultimate adventure.

• The recent launch of D&D’s FIRST-EVER free-to-play mobile app, Arena of War, produced by DeNA just launched. Arena of War, which is available on iOS and Android. It’s a thrilling, turn-based, 3D, battle-RPG mobile game that sends players on perilous quests through the Forgotten Realms.

• The third book in The Sundering series, The Adversary by Erin M. Evans, is being released early December. This page-turner delves into a maelstrom of devilish politics and magical intrigue.

For more, check out the trailer after the break. Want to play The Sunderling? Check it out over at the official website.

AD&D (aka Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) is here to stay and after almost forty years, it’s popularity has never been higher. Back in the day, we played a lot of adventure modules that came directly from original publisher TSR. Some of our favorites were the ones for beginners, like the “Slave Lords” series.

Now, we can get those modules again, this time in a brand new hardcover collection, complete with the original artwork. That’s right, Wizard of the Coast has got us covered:

Ranked the 20th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, these four modules — A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, and A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords – are together again, complete with original black-and-white interior art.

Added to the collection is an all-new fifth adventure — A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry — that players can use to kick off an AD&D campaign that pits a group of adventurers against the evil Slave Lords! Module A0, designed for levels 1-3, sets the stage for events that unfold throughout the remainder of the “A” series.

The new collection is available today right here. Click through for full descriptions of the classic modules in the collection.

If you’re a geek, at one time or another, you’ve likely played Dungeons & Dragons. Heck, you may be playing this week or even while you’re reading this very article. It’s a great way to pass the time and something we love to do sitting around a table with some of your best friends.

But wouldn’t it be cool to be able to take those fun times on the road with you? Well, if you’ve always wanted a mobile version of D&D, you’re in luck because Wizards of the Coast and DeNA have partnered together to do just that.

That’s right, the two companies will soon bring Dungeons & Dragons: Arena of War, the first ever D&D mobile game, to an iOS or Android device near you.

According to the official press release for the game: “Arena of War puts players in the Forgotten Realms for a battle roleplaying game that combines questing, character leveling, and small team collaboration with the most engaging mobile game mechanics on the market, such as in-game events and massive multiplayer competitions.”

It will be available later this year. For more info on the game, or to pre-register, head on over to the game’s official site.

As geeks get older, they tend to accumulate more and more stuff. They also tend to move and/or end up with significant others who may not share their love of collecting things and never getting rid of them. Ever.

Consequently, some stuff may get sold, misplaced or just plain “lost.” Fortunately, if some of that stuff happens to be your original AD&D Second Edition Core Rulebooks, you’re in luck because Wizards of the Coast has got you covered.

That’s right, the company is re-releasing all three books, The Player’s Handbook, Monstrous Manual and Dungeon Master Handbook, in super nice premium editions for your reading, use and collecting pleasure. Of course, the three books contain all of the original content and art, but each rulebook has a new cover design to commemorate the reprint.

Each book will set you back $49.95. Yes, that’s a bit more than they originally cost, but if you need/want them, you need/want them, right? They would also make a fine gift for the D&D geek on your list this holiday season. Not that I’m dropping hints or anything.

17 years and over fifty expansions to the card game, Magic: The Gathering is still with us. In addition, the franchise has spawned eight video game releases as well, all with variations of the popular card game’s rules. Some have been direct ports while others take the game in completely new directions. With this year’s E3, Sony Online Entertainment has chosen to step up with one of these new playstyles for the Magic series and introduced Magic: The Gathering – Tactics.

Taking a page from Final Fantasy: Tactics, players play out their monsters and spells on a board and swap back and forth until all of their opponents creatures are dead. It’s somewhat surprising this is the first time Magic has been fought in such a manner.

One would think with the huge variety of characters available to it, this combination would have been a no-brainer. Sony has already confirmed famed characters such as the Lord of the Pit, Raya Dawnbringer and Serra Angel to appear in the game alongside classic spells like Fireball, Ancestral Recall and Lightning Bolt

Sony Online Entertainment will be bringing this title exclusively to the PlayStation 3 and PC. No XBox 360 plans have been made for the title. Take a look below at the E3 Trailer for Magic: The Gathering – Tactics and some screen shots of the upcoming title.