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As promised in Episode 120, we’re tackling “battered group syndrome” in this episode and the next! Yes, it’s a two-parter, because we had so much to say on this topic we couldn’t keep the conversation short enough for a single episode. We lead off with two quick plugs: One for Grant’s appearance on the Gameable Saturday Morning Podcast to talk about Exo Squad (Part 1, Part 2, and the horror of a Gameable AU involving Palladium’s Ninjas & Superspies); and one for Min/Max Podcast, another excellent show by Christians about gaming and theology. We then quickly answer a question from Patreon backer Kevin about our favorite polyhedral dice (results: 2d12+1d8, mean: 17.5.) After our Scripture readings, it’s time to tackle this topic head-on!
In this first half, we cover the symptoms of “battered group syndrome” (especially avoidance behaviors) and a few suggestions to help treat it, such as changing GMs or systems for a bit, granting players as much narrative control as possible, take-backs, and failures. Jenny also introduces us to the Funcilitator, which sounds … ominous. Enjoy!
Full credit to Fear the Boot for, we believe, coining the phrase “battered group syndrome” and discussing this themselves in FTB 440.
Scripture: Psalm 51:10-13, Proverbs 25:18-20, Romans 12:17-21