In this week's Flashlight, Reilly introduces some very special guests, Jake is intimidated by game store employees, and we discuss the meteoric rise of Wizards of the Coast. We also get into the economic situation in the 1990s, the Canadian political system, and how our podcast production works behind the scenes. The bit about unpaid interns was a joke, we promise.

We compare and contrast WotC with its predecessor TSR, so it might help to listen to our Flashlight on the history of TSR as well.

Also, in this episode Jake says "top quintile" without defining it. This just means "top 20%". Sorry about that.

Here are some links that we used in research for the episode:

• You can see those original rules for Wizards of the Coast’s first publication The Primal Order here.
• Here’s a detailed history of the history of Wizards of the Coast through the 1990s.
• This review of the very first Magic: the Gathering World Championships isn’t the very first use of the word “metagame” but it’s an interesting read and an early discussion of the concept.
• Here’s a forum thread on early Magic: the Gathering card prices - we didn’t talk about this in the episode, but it’s interesting history.
• Here are the Consumer Expenditure Survey tables we used to get historical spending on hobbies.
• Here’s WotC’s patent on collectible card games.
• Here’s the Bulbapedia page on the WotC Pokemon card era. As always Bulbapedia is one of the most comprehensive sources of information on anything anywhere on the Internet.
• Here’s a thoughtful critical review of the Homelands MtG card deck.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly's music.

Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. You can also get episodes right from the source at our RSS feed. If you enjoy Campaign Spotlight, consider subscribing to our Patreon. For more on the show, including links to all our social media, visit our website.

This week, we chat with Erika about running a campaign using multiple systems, the upsides of metagaming, and worldbuilding at a table of dirty anarchist punks. Spoiler warning for Super Dimension Fortress Macross. In a sure sign that we're close to middle age, we do joke about the contents of our filing cabinets.

Here are the TTRPG systems that Erika describes playing in this campaign:

• Microscope
• Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands
• Beam Saber
• Fiasco

We also talk about Friends at the Table, which you should go listen to once you're all caught up on Campaign Spotlight.

Erika shared a map of the Citadel from the campaign, which is extremely cool. Go to our website to check it out.

We tried playing Microscope in a Flashlight way back at the beginning of Season 1, and we really enjoyed it.

This week's PC intro comes from Levi, who has been a very fun player in some of Jake's games and who is also an incredible performer.

Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. You can also get episodes right from the source at our RSS feed. If you enjoy Campaign Spotlight, consider subscribing to our Patreon. For more on the show, including links to all our social media, visit our website.

In this week's Flashlight, we chat about the complicated corporate history of TSR, monetizing your hobbies, and how we'd deal with getting sued. Reilly wields a sword. Jake makes a metaphor about a goose that calls into question whether Jake has ever seen a goose before.

In this episode we also introduce Monocles McGillicuddy with absolutely zero context. Monocles was Reilly's PC way back in our Season 1 Flashlight on the Genesys system.

Here are some links that we used in research for the episode:

• If you’re interested in that Hunt for Red October game from TSR, here’s an analysis of the game complete with a bunch of photos.
• If you really need to see the odious comments that blew up the TSR revival, here’s a rundown of the comments and here’s an article on a lawsuit from Wizards of the Coast about the last iteration of TSR. Reading about this will not brighten your day.
• Completely off-topic, but if you want to play the critically-panned Ringworld-themed point-and-click adventure game that launched at the same 1993 GenCon as Magic: the Gathering, you can still do so.
• Here’s a free character sheet for the Top Secret TTRPG if you want to see what the game is like.

Also, in our last episode, Drew provided the PC intro. Thank you so much to Drew, who is a player in Jake's long-running campaign and every bit as chaotic as that intro sounded. We apologize for the omission last week.

Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. You can also get episodes right from the source at our RSS feed. If you enjoy Campaign Spotlight, consider subscribing to our Patreon. For more on the show, including links to all our social media, visit our website.