About

In the Beginning

The podcast began in 2013 like so many others, with two nerds huddled around a microphone in a garage. Matt and Dustin, as part of Follow Networks, were organizing a weekly nerd chat: topics varied from comics to films, and even barbershop quartets. The only thing they needed was a name.

They envisioned a fantasy tavern; a grimy place with a roaring hearth where travelers could drink and smoke in shadowed alcoves. It would be a crude but amiable place, welcome to all but also knowing it wouldn't be a place everyone would enjoy. They decided to name it the Brothel, and, in keeping with the long-standing nerdy tradition of juxtaposing different fandoms, they added a Rancor to the tabbard outside, thus creating a podcast which never fails to get a reaction when people hear its name.

The Rancor's Brothel continued with its weekly (sometimes more, sometimes less) nerd chats for about a year before Dustin saddled up his horse and rode out of town.  No literally, he's an actual cowboy. Matt recruited Cody (who had been featured on an episode with his wife before) to join him in the show's weekly conversations, and, while the tenor of the podcast changed, the love of all things nerd continued to be the heart and soul of the Rancor's Brothel. 

Many of our current cast were featured on the podcast during this time. These original format episodes can be found here. Yet as Christmas 2014 approached, Matt and Cody were looking for ways to pre-record content and have it release ahead of schedule, thus freeing themselves for holiday cheer and pesky family obligations.. He then asked Matt if he had ever played a role-playing game before...

The Pivot to RPGs

Cody, who has been playing RPGs since his high school days, was excited to take this opportunity to play with Matt for the first time. The two had a great time playing together, and from a podcasting perspective, it provided them with two big benefits. First, episodes could be scheduled more definitively as opposed to the chaos of an instantaneous, news style podcast. This scheduling, in turn, provided the opportunity to edit and clean audio content, which gave listeners a better auditory experience overall.  It also helped that Matt fell in love with RPGs.

In February 2015, the Rancor's Brothel began its first campaign, recruiting players from previous guests. The game was a success, both in terms of listener reception and in general enjoyment by the cast. Since then, most of the podcast's content has been RPG focused, with numerous diversions into general nerd talk (often in the middle of a game recording).  The cast expanded as the list of RPGs grew, equipment was purchased, editors were trained, and more new content wad featured every week... so much so that The Rancor's Brothel began releasing episodes twice a week or more.

The Future

With each day, the vast library of gaming on The Rancor's Brothel continues to grow. Yet at its heart, it still retains the basic premise of its origin; to be a place where nerdy people can share their passions with others. We believe our podcast presents an honest, down-to-Earth view of RPG gaming... one where a group of friends sit around a table to joke, to laugh, and to experience storytelling moments together. We may not be the best of performers or know the rules front to back, but we will always save you a seat at our table... with a hardy hello, a pile of dice to borrow, and plenty of laughs to share.

If you've read this far, welcome to The Rancor's Brothel. Sit down, put your feet up, and relax.