Hey, gang!

This is going to be a quickie, because I want to get it out there and have to leave forthwith, posthaste, and fast even! Maybe I’ll come back and fill in links and such, and give proper written babbling to this issue. In the meantime, here’s our second session of Icons, wherein our Paragons are drawn into a web of inter-dimensional intrigue, the likes of which they’ve never encountered before. Will the walloping Whirligig, the badass Biohazard, and the marvelous Mr. Disco be enough to fend off the nostalgic nightmare of… The Sugar Hill Invasion?

Download and find out!

Yes, for those in the know, it’s *that* Sugar Hill Invasion–the Improbable Tales adventure for the Icons superheroic role-playing game. But let me explain.

In This Issue:

To kick off our Monkeys Took My Jetpack Stan Lee tribute, we go back to July 21, 2014, when we took the newly-released Icons: Assembled Edition for a spin. Having just come from a one-shot where we did our best to emulate a fictional ‘80s Saturday morning cartoon, I could think of no better start to our tribute than to give you our rendering of Improbable Tales: The Sugar Hill Invasion!

The Cast:

BlindGeek: GM
Josh: Whirligig
Thunderstep: Biohazard
Trilobite: Mr. Disco

A few things to note:

First off, although the adventure was published quite some time ago, it could still be run today, so I want to remind you that this and the next issue of Monkeys Took My Jetpack contain total spoilers for the adventure. If your players listen to this podcast, they’ll know things you most definitely WILL NOT want them to if you run the adventure. Adapt, improvise, and overcome!

Second, my group did have some issues with the rules (or more accurately, the rules presentation) of Icons–at least, as we understood them. I thought about editing out the discussion, because the last thing I want to do is offend any fans (or in some cases, designers) of the games we play on this podcast. I ultimately chose to leave most of it in, because were I a game designer, I’d want to know what players of my game were thinking of my game as it unfolded at the table, or have a chance to help for future reference. Given this session is four years old, and Assembled Edition was new when this was recorded, clarifications and/or changes may have been made, but either way, these were our thoughts at the time. As you’ll hear, we still had a blast playing the game.

Thirdly, as always, we welcome your feedback. Thoughts on how rules were handled? Different experiences you’ve had with this particular Improbable Tale, or Icons in general? We’d love to hear from you. Just go to our Facebook page and leave us a comment. You’ll hear back. Promise.

Okay, True Believers, enough babbling from me! Go back to the top, click that download link, and…

…Enjoy!

And thanks a lot, Stan. Without you, even indirectly, this wouldn’t have happened.

“On Earth today, it’s Thanksgiving. If the crew has to eat meatloaf, I want it to look like turkey. And if they have to listen to a podcast, I want it to be Monkeys Took My Jetpack!”
–Capt. James T. Kirk … sort of.

This issue comes in a bit short, but goes out no less enjoyable for it. It’s got everything you’ve come to expect from the Jetpackless–humor, action, compelling characters, a great game, and so much more!

It’s our third and final session (so far) of the Cartoon Action Hour: Season 3 series, Wasteland 2010.

Our cast includes:

BlindGeek: GM
Josh: Zolgar
Moondog: Lady Mistra
Trilobite: Bogg

I can’t say enough great things about Spectrum Games in general, and Cartoon Action Hour in particular. Even if this series doesn’t strike your fancy, there are many published series to pick from, and the rules provide detailed, in-depth guidelines for creating your own. If you have a nostalgic bone in your body, you can’t go wrong by picking up this game! We will be coming back to this game, possibly even this series, at some point.

So with that, whether you “officially” celebrate Thanksgiving today as we do in the States, it’s never a bad idea to take stock of what one has to be thankful for in life. I know I speak for all of us here at MTMJ when I say we are so thankful for you, our listeners. Whether you give us feedback on our Facebook page, or whether you are part of the silent masses–or even the silent few–we appreciate each and every one of you. As someone who subscribes to many podcasts myself, I recognize how time-consuming it can be to listen to all of them. The fact that you choose to devote your time to our friendly little AP podcast is never unnoticed, or taken for granted. Thank you so very much.

Oh, one more thang before I close this entry. It is with heavy hearts that we of MTMJ acknowledge the passing of the great Stan Lee. Any and all knowledge I have of comic books is owed to Stan Lee. It’s no accident that I tend to model my writing style after his, at least in some part. I prefer to think of it as homage rather than imitation, but I’ll let others make their judgment. I’ve been a Marvelite through-and-through since I was a kid. As of this writing, there’s no consistent and/or reliable method for the blind to enjoy comic books, so I got started watching the 1968 Spider-Man cartoon. When I eventually learned to use a machine called an Optacon which allowed me to read print, one of the first things I did was pick up a comic book. I even remember what my very first book was: Marvel Team-Up: Spider-Man with Cloak and Dagger. Because the machine just provided me with tactile representations of shapes and left interpretation up to me, I was able to feel the way comics are laid out; the way speech bubbles and thought bubbles felt; the weird letter-outlines used for writing sound effects like WHAM!, BAMF!, and SNIKT!. While I couldn’t tell what the illustrations were, I still did my best to follow the stories. As wonderful as current OCR technology is, I still miss the hell out of the Optacon. OCR doesn’t handle comics well at all. Still, I loved reading comic books while it lasted, and I have Stan Lee to thank for that, and so much more. We will be paying tribute to Stan with our next several issues, so I hope you’re in the mood for some superheroics, cuz we’re gonna be delivering in spades!!.

And with that, go forth…

…and enjoy!

Hey, gang!

I know, I probably should’ve put this up yesterday morning, that having been Saturday morning, which is so apropos to what’s about to come your way, but what can I say? Life.

This issue brings us the second session in our Wasteland 2010 game, and while it was a blast to play, I almost feel I owe my players, you dear listeners, and the people of Spectrum Games a heartfelt apology. My fellow players have assured me that they had fun and I’m being overly hard on myself, and I probably am… but I wish I had known the rules better; I wish listening to this session didn’t make me grind my teeth in frustration at what I consider some … oh, I won’t go so far as to say railroading, but definitely having a heavier hand in the direction of the plot than I usually like. I also wish I was better at keeping track of what was going on in-game while I tried to keep stats and rules and such straight. And I wish my dialog didn’t feel so forced.

All this is not to fish for compliments, and it’s not to say the game sucks. Neither is true. What it *is* to say is this: Any new GM, and even many seasoned ones, can say with assuredness that they have experienced one, perhaps even all, of these things at one time or another. If you are new to the hobby, or haven’t donned your GM hat in a while, you can have these challenges and still make it through, running a fun game. These just show that you have room for improvement … and really, doesn’t everybody? That’s what life is all about. Bettering ourselves.

So enough self-help and psychobabble from me. Click that above link, pour yourself a heaping bowl of sweet, sugary deliciousness, top it off with some ice-cold milk, and get ready for action! Comedy! Wisecracks! And then the game will start! Seriously, above all…

Enjoy!

Hey, kids!

Pour yourself a heapin’ bowl of your favorite sugary-sweet cereal before ya download this issue, because we’ve got a brand-spanking-new Cartoon Action Hour series to play. If you have fond memories of shows like “Thundar the Barbarian,” you’re going to love Wasteland 2010! This session is probably our shortest to date, but don’t worry. The next one will be arriving right on its heels. There’s a price to pay for that, but you’ll have to listen to the opening remarks to know what that price is.

So climb aboard that Delorean, kick that old guy and his buddy to the curb, head back to the fall of 1982…

…and enjoy!!

Hiya, gang!

In this issue, we finally bring you what you’ve been waiting to hear for literally years now: the final session of our Dresden Files campaign!

Knowing our reactions when it was all said and done, I’m very curious about yours. Did it live up to your expectations? Did it not? Were you moved? Go onto our Facebook page and let us know!

Forgot to mention it in my remarks, so I want to thank Moon Dog here for editing us. The time and effort you volunteer is extremely appreciated, my friend. You rock this casbah!

Hiya, gang!

Here we are, face to face, a couple of sil…er…no, that’s not right.

We’re here to bring you Session #27 of our Dresden Files campaign. Let’a go back to November 25, 2013, when the world was just a little more sane, and the future looked just a little brighter.

Download…

…and enjoy.

Hi, gang!

We’re finally back with a spiffy new Dresden Files session. Session #26, as it happens.

Most of what I could say here is covered in my opening remarks in the podcast itself, but I do want to thank someone here who I neglected to thank there. Thanks, Maria, for playing your horn for us. It was exactly the sound we needed to get those Amazons charging into battle! And that’s the only spoiler y’all are going to get.

To find out more, download the issue.

And enjoy!

This geek likes to party all the time, party all the time, party all the time! Which makes getting podcasts out in a timely manner quite difficult.

Seriously, we’ve had to move the MTMJ studio into another location, which doesn’t allow for nearly as much privacy, and therefore makes recording more difficult. But let’s face it—the gods’ honest truth of the matter is that it was summer, and I was having fun tandem biking, camping, eclipsing, and any and all manner of other summer fun-ness.

But now, we’re back! What will happen to our feminized threesome as they try to entreat the amazing Amazons? Don’t dilly-dally! We can’t divulge until you download!

Enjoy.

Hey, kids!

It’s time once again for another thrill-packed issue of Monkeys Took My Jetpack! This time, we’re cluin’’ you in on the 24th session of our Dresden Files campaign! Recorded way back on November 4, 2013, this thing is rapidly becoming ancient history. And yet, it’s been such a rip-roaring gaming experience that it’s spawned not one, but two spin-off campaigns. Unfortunately, as near as this podcast host can tell, only one of those campaigns will see the light on this here ‘cast, but that doesn’t change the fact that two actually exist. What are they, you ask? Only time, and patience, will reveal the answer.

I suppose after all this chit-chat and blither-blather, you might actually like a download link so you can get your hands (or more accurately, your ears) on this exciting installment. Well, wait no more. Here it is.

Enjoy.

And remember…

Make Mine Monkey!!!