Bikers Dice and Bars

BDaB #016: Rain Riding, VTTs, and Oktoberfest

For our sixteenth main-program episode, we’re jamming on a fairly massive variety of Oktoberfest-styled beers, about half of which are from the Oregon area and the other half from Germany. In our first segment, Just Jacob guides us through a discussion about safety tips for riding in the coming rain season here in the Pacific Northwest. In our Game Talk segment, NPC tells us about Virtual Tabletops (VTTs), including how they work, what you need, and some of the major options. Finally, in our Bar Talk segment, Poppy educates us on what Oktoberfest is and we all comment on the various drinks we’ve been imbibing throughout the recording.

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BDaB Character Jam 08: The Nightmares Underneath

We’re back with another Character Jam episode! In each of these episodes, we record ourselves drunkenly attempting to make characters for a new role-playing game. This time we’re tackling one of my all-time favorite games, “The Nightmares Underneath” by Johnstone Metzger. It’s yet another “retro” style of game – we apparently do a lot of these because they’re pretty simple to go through as a bunch of drunks. Enjoy!

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BDaB #015: The Last Mile, Last Turn, and Last Call

Yes, in this episode, we finally complain about E-Scooters, hooray! Once again we’ve brought Linsel along, more or less upgrading his prestige class to “Regular Host” on our show. Our drinks of the evening are a couple of delicious varieties of Linsel’s own “Switchel” recipe, brought to us in mason jars and mixed at the table with Louisiana’s own Bayou Rum. In our first segment, we talk about the concept of “the last mile” in traveling, and then relentlessly bitch about e-scooters. In our second segment, we discuss the “Last Turn” of board and video games, debating which games do them well, and which ones totally screw them up. In our third segment, we discuss the sanctity of “Last Call” at your favorite bar, and how not to fuck it up. We close with a short tale about Xander’s recent trip to his new favorite bar in the nation.

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BDaB #014: Don’t Be “That Guy” (Labor Day 2018)

This episode is all about “That Guy” we all know and hate (and have likely been at one point ourselves), and how not to be That Guy. Be it riding like an asshole, being a crappy sport at the gaming table, or failing to compose yourself properly at a bar, we talk about many of the variants of That Guy in our mutual hobbies, and how to step back from the precipice when you find yourself about to become him.

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BDaB Character Jam 07: Pugmire

We’re once again joined by both Linsel and Poppy, this time to take a delightful romp through the character creation process of a charming new RPG called Pugmire. We drink a continuing variety of dog-themed beers and such, as we make a new pack of Good Dogs to go adventuring in this adorable anthropomorphic role-playing game. This is our longest episode yet, I do believe, but we had so much fun from beginning to end that it was difficult to cut anything at all!

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BDaB #013: Dogs!

We’re back from a schedule break with a new episode, and this time we’re talking about nothing but Dogs! Returning guest Linsel Greene is back with us again, and we expect to see more of him in the coming weeks, too! This time around, we also have an EXTRA special guest: Oliver Cromwell the Welsh Corgi, once voted best bar dog in Portland! In our Bike Talk, we discuss cycling and motorbiking (and others) with your favorite canine companions. In our Game Talk, we talk about video and tabletop games which let you play as dogs, or use them as integral parts of the experience. And in our Bar Talk, we talk about taking your doggy to your favorite bars. All the while we drink exclusively dog-themed beers from Lucky Lab and Hair of the Dog, both brewed right here in Portland, OR.

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BDaB #012: Bike Music, Retro Gaming, The Sandy Hut

Welcome back fellow geeky road ramblers! This time around we are joined by Skip vonKuske, creator of many wonderful tunes and projects – one of which is our own theme song. In our first segment, we talk about our favorite bike-themed songs over the years, and also briefly catch up with Xander on his daily grueling bicycle commute. After that we reminisce about our experiences growing up with gaming consoles that are today considered of the “retro” variety. In our final segment we talk lovingly about one of Portland’s most well-known still-running dive bars, the Sandy Hut.

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BDaB #011: Summer Riding, NINJA TURTLES, Eulogy for the Boiler Room

Hello again, fellow biker nerds! We’re releasing a few days late this time around, thanks to a half-dozen-plus conflicts of scheduling and other life events. This episode was recorded right after the 4th of July celebrations here in the Pacific Northwest USA, and we had a _vast_ quantity of leftover booze on-hand. With Xander being unexpectedly absent due to a new job, we managed to get our good friend Basem from the hilarious Turtle Power Pod to join us in his place, along with our favorite Wannabe Wine Snob, Poppy Beaujolais. Due to the last-minute change-up, this episode is a bit more “off-script” than usual – although we never have a script in the first place so that’s not really anything new!

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BDaB #010: Ride Report 1, Point-Buy vs Random Chargen, Smoking in Bars

For our tenth episode, our drinks of the evening are a pairing of George Dickel Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey and the “Local Logger” Lager from Everybody’s Brewing. In our bike segment, Just Jacob gives a post-ride report on a recent trip he took through eastern Washington, following it up with a talk about emergency bike maintenance and safety tips. The Game Talk topic is the divisive subject of tabletop RPG character creation methods, specifically the conflict between Point-Buy and Random Roll systems. Finally, during our Bar Talk we share our feelings on Smoking in bars, including discussion of the continual banning of it in bars nationwide.

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