{"podcast":{"title":"Around the Hearth","slug":"around-the-hearth-6854113","podcast_index_feed_id":6854113,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/around-the-hearth","website_url":"https://aroundthehearth.openhearthgaming.com/","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/XiPF12hwX_MvvRw4mzuOChmWyhpPwG3UXyF2kDbmPOk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9iMWNl/NTMwMjJjN2U4ZDQ2/YmU4YmU4ODIzZTZj/ODBhNy5wbmc.jpg","author":"Open Hearth Gaming","episode_count":82,"summary":"Around the Hearth features discussion on a wide range of topics relevant to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) featuring members of the Open Hearth Gaming Community. We talk games, gameplay, design, and the games being played at the Open Hearth Gaming Calendar. Our online games are free and open to all! If you'd like to join the fun, visit openhearthgaming.com for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-18T00:19:33.165657+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/around-the-hearth-6854113"},"episode":{"title":"Known Territory: Ep 1 Band of Blades","slug":"known-territory-ep-1-band-of-blades","published_at":"2026-08-06T11:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/around-the-hearth-6854113/known-territory-ep-1-band-of-blades","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/around-the-hearth-6854113","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/997ea642","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/997ea642/4d3b628e.mp3","summary":"Welcome to the first episode of a new series on the Around the Hearth podcast feed: Known Territory: GMs Talk Games . Each episode we sit down with an experienced game facilitator who has played a specific TTRPG extensively. They will discuss how they pitch the game, best practices for running, useful tools, potential pitfalls, and more. We hope this will be a useful primer for both GMs and players interested in this game. For this first episode we have on Jim Crocker to discuss Band of Blades , Evil Hat's military fantasy Forged in the Dark TTRPG. Jim's run complete campaigns of this striking and complex story game of military survival and horror. Jim on itch.io Games Mentioned Band of Blades Band of Blades on Roll20 Blades in the Dark The Watch Night Witches If you dig this series, please rate, review, and subscribe. This episode's host is Lowell Francis, designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin . He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community. He's the co-author of the Transverse Noir series of Shadowrun novellas. You can find Lowell's work on YouTube , on Itch.io , and on DriveThruRPG. Help Rae Recover Links Support or donate at https://patreon.com/swordqueengames or https://ko-fi.com/matthewarcilla Music: ‘Mission Control’ by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community Support us on Patreon! Our actual play podcast can be found here Follow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpg Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpg Mastodon: @openhearthrpg@dice.camp","meta_description":"Welcome to the first episode of a new series on the Around the Hearth podcast feed: Known Territory: GMs Talk Games . Each episode we sit down with an exp…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3504,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/around-the-hearth-6854113/episodes/known-territory-ep-1-band-of-blades/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/around-the-hearth-6854113/known-territory-ep-1-band-of-blades.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}