Jared recently had the chance to chat with podcasters Matt and Eric about their show, The Goblin’s Corner, and how they’re using their platform to help gamers and GMs!
Jared: First off, tell us a little about the three of you.
Goblin’s Corner: We’re both storytellers, gamers, and comedians.
Eric is an Atlanta artist, comedian, a father figure to offspring and furry critters, and the technical aspect of the show. Eric has been performing since he was old enough to speak and has carried this into every creative format, from various improv and live acts, to sketch comedy and gaming.
With 30-plus years experience of running various tabletop games, he has extensive knowledge of both the industry and the performance art of storytelling overall.
Similar in many respects to his co-host Eric, Matt is a husband, long-time geek enthusiast, and storyteller, but he traded the children for an extra cat. Matt also has over 30 years of gaming experience; running adventures, world-building, storytelling, and playing. Additionally, he possesses the mutant ability to find the loophole in any system, which results in amusing gameplay and (oftentimes) frustrated storytellers.
J: How did you get started in TTRPG? What keeps you interested in the game?
GC: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, two kids learned to play tabletop games. During an age when the internet was in its infancy, tabletop games gave us the ability to create with our friends and apply that to the rest of our lives. We both started from different systems (Eric started with Marvel Superheroes while Matt learned Palladium), but over the years we’ve branched into D&D and many, many more.
There’s several answers as to what keeps us interested, from the amazing new games coming out from 3rd party publishers, to updated versions, to great game worlds, but the real answer is: it’s all about the play. Storytelling, at its simplest, is as close to playing like a kid that you can get. It’s freeing, it’s creative, and it’s fun. That’s why people enjoy it, and that’s why we will never get tired of telling amazing stories and playing wonderful games (and helping others do so as well).
J: What got you into broadcasting your games for people outside the game table to enjoy?
GC: Two things: Frequent questions about running a TTRPG and the pandemic. With the pandemic closing Eric’s improv theatre, he was itching for a chance to do something creative, and during this time, Matt would often help others set up online games on Roll20 (or other platforms). We both found people having trouble with things such as; creating new monsters, running an intrigue campaign, or just worldbuilding. Most of these things weren’t really in a game book…it’s something you had to learn from experience or others.
As these subjects, as well as D&D and other games, were generally standard fare for everyday conversation, both of us decided to take our knowledge to the masses. One night several years ago we sat down, made a pot of coffee, drank a pot of coffee, and wrote out about 300 ideas for episodes that could help people play or run their games. From that, The Goblin’s Corner was born. Our podcast became devoted to storytelling, and helping OTHERS learn to storytell, play amazing characters and have fun.
J: What else do you broadcast besides your games?
GC: We mostly do our weekly podcast, which focuses on storytelling and running awesome games, but we’ve also branched out into doing a few live plays on occasion (particularly if they are for a charity). Eric also is an artist, so he’ll hop on Twitch frequently to show folks how to craft creatures or terrain for the tabletop. Matt used to be a bartender and famously did a live stream creating fantasy cocktails on the fly, which they both tested.
J: Where did you get the name “Goblin’s Corner”?
GC: As we talked about what our show would include and not include, we joked about this mental picture of a pair of goblins sitting in the smoky, darkened corner of a medieval tavern, just handing out knowledge to innocent adventurers. “Here’s some knowledge Paladin…now don’t go out and drown in a swamp!” The idea became amusing enough that we made it our name.
J: What can you tell us about your different categories of podcasts and articles?
GC: Our show usually centers around theme over mechanics, but we have collected several categories of episodes over the years.
Storytelling tends to be the largest set, because that is often our most requested type of episode. People often want to hear how to run an intrigue game, the best way to get people interested in playing horror elements, or how to have a recurring story arc. It’s also, as we mentioned, an aspect that’s lacking in most game books.
Worldbuilding tends to be a close second. How do you create a thieves or mages guild? What’s life like in a magical city? How do you craft distinct and interesting aliens for sci-fi? Inquiring minds want to know!
The other categories tend towards more specificity, such as our Terrain Series (which go into depth on various environments, such as mountains or forests), Creatures (either expanding on ones from D&D and other games or crafting our own ludicrous ones), and Spells (generally homebrewed and silly). We round this out with some technical shows (such as how to use sound and music for a game) and interviews (for example, Keith Baker of Eberron fame).
J: What do you have in the works, project-wise?
GC: More episodes! Check us out each week for something new. Additionally, we have a book on monsters (compatible with any game) coming out mid-next year. Finally, we’ll be showing up at several conventions, such as DragonCon and Breakout Con so come say hi at the panels!
J: Where can people find more info and stay up to date on any new content coming out? Social media, etc? (Be sure to include the web links!)
GC: Look for “The Goblin’s Corner” on iTunes, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts (we’re on all of them). If you’d rather watch us, we are also on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thegoblinscorner). Feel free to subscribe and say hi!
If you enjoy more interaction you can find us @goblinscorner on Facebook/Twitter/BluSky/Mastodon (and mostly everything else), and if all of that is too much, you can easily find everything on our website: www.goblinscorner.com
J: Anything else you’d like to add?
GC: If you like our show, let others know about it! We’re here to help you play better games, tell better stories, and have fun. Still feeling generous? Give us a review on iTunes and Podchaser. Hit the like and subscribe on YouTube. These all help others check out or show and hopefully give them the information they need to play better games.
Finally, if you’d like to rep our show: we have swag! Check out our delightful merch at teepublic
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