Role Playing Public Radio

The Kickstarter for season 3 of the Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast is now live! Back it today to help us fund another full season of this podcast. The Lady in Blue, a mysterious figure of cosmic power, enlists a band of simple peasants for a strange task. They are to follow an invisible bridge until they arrive at a hole in the sky – and then jump through. Death awaits all but the bravest, strongest, and luckiest, but the Lady offers a reward beyond all the riches of the world: the chance to change the very stars these peasants were born under, and thus change their destiny. We’re reviewing our first adventure for this season! We played it as the finale of last season and now you can hear what we think of the adventure as a published scenario.

Mega Dungeon Meandering is a deep dive into one of the best reviewed mega dungeons of all time, Stonehell: Stonehell Dungeon is a classic-style mega dungeon, filled with enough  monsters, traps, weirdness, and treasure to keep you gaming for a long,  long time. Explore over 700 rooms, encounter more than 40 new monsters,  and discover 18 mysterious magical items — and that’s just in the first  book! If you like this episode, we have more episodes available on the RPPR Patreon. We also have a lot of other great rewards, including more podcasts, artwork, and a great community Discord server! We’re going to start making videos for RPPR this year. I’ve mirrored a lot of the RPPR back catalogue on Youtube and there’s more to come. Subscribe now to re-listen to your favorite classic episodes and be the first to see original videos when they’re uploaded. Subscribe today!

We conclude the post mortem discussion of Impossible Landscapes, after the interruption from the previous episode. We now have a campaign index page, so you can easily find al of the episodes and other relevant bits for the campaign. Maddy as Ryan West, paramedic Thad as Marley Madelyn, FBI agent Fae as Yersinia Riszek, cryptographer Rob Stith as Jørgen Nygård, undercover agent Ross as the Handler Episode art by Patsy McDowell.  

Our actual play run of the surreal horror campaign, Impossible Landscapes, is now done. The cast and I discuss the characters, plot, and more! Find out the secrets behind the campaign and my advice for running this challenging but rewarding campaign. Maddy as Ryan West, paramedic Thad as Marley Madelyn, FBI agent Fae as Yersinia Riszek, cryptographer Rob Stith as Jørgen Nygård, undercover agent Ross as the Handler Episode art by Patsy McDowell. Thanks!

We’re back for another episode! I found a bottle of Blanton’s bourbon and to celebrate my discovery, we recorded a new episode. Spencer even has a new food rating system! Back The Night Clerk zine! A modern horror RPG scenario from Ross Payton! We’re talking about a wide range of topics – check it out: Beer: Prairie Artisan Ale Stuf’t (2) Segment: Dissecting Our Fun (4) Sub-Topic: Ark Nova is…big…and good Beer: Brasserie Dunham Farbenku  gel Segment: Binge Binger Sub-Topic: What’s been your most recent binge addiction? Beer: Second Shift Brewing Spiritual Delight (4) Segment: Ready Player Drunk Sub-Topic: Tears of the Kingdom GOTY? Beer: El Segundo Brewing Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA (3) Segment: Sportsplainer Sub-Topic: There’s an incredibly deadly motorcycle race called the Isle of Man TT. Over a century old and over 260 people have been killed – not just racers but spectators as well. Where’s the line in allowing sports like this to continue? Beer: Tighthead Brewery Chilly Water IPA (2) Segment: Mixed Six Mock Draft Sub-Topic: Republican primary candidates and cars from the wacky racer genre (wacky racers, rat race, Mario cart; twisted metal, death race, etc) Beer: Prairie Artisan Ales Tiny Esses (1) Segment: Drunk Enough Sub-Topic: So what’s it been like to not monetize your drinking for the last year? In case you missed it, the entire Mixed Six catalogue is now mirrored on archive.org. All of the main episodes are here. All of the Patreon bonus episodes are here. All of the Hot Takes on Ice and other mini-episodes and specials are here. Join the Mixed Six Discord Server, now open to the public to discuss this episode and catch up with the community.

The Flash is a spectacularly bad movie. Caleb, Spencer, and I got together to discuss exactly WHY it was so bad. I was part of a podcast called The Mixed Six for nearly 6 years. I had a blast making it and I’m proud of the episodes we made. It ended a year ago, but we came back together recently to record a reunion special episode. This is Hot Takes on Ice, a shorter podcast we did on a single take. I’m sharing it here because I think if you missed the Mixed Six when we were making on a regular basis, now is the perfect time to binge the series. I’ve mirrored the entire catalogue of the podcast on archive.org so you can listen to regular episodes, formerly Patreon-exclusive episodes, and mini episodes like Hot Takes on Ice. We’ll have a full new episode out on Monday. Don’t forget to back The Night Clerk on Backerkit today! A full color 44 page scenario zine of architectural horror! All of the main episodes are here. All of the Patreon bonus episodes are here. All of the Hot Takes on Ice and other mini-episodes and specials are here. Join the Mixed Six Discord Server, now open to the public to discuss this episode and catch up with the community.

Architectural horror is a subgenre of intention. Novels like House of Leaves, movies like The Shining, the Saw series, and games like Control can all be called architectural horror, but what does that mean? Rob Stith of the Orpheus Protocol and I talk about the genre and my new scenario, The Night Clerk, which is now funding on Backerkit! If you want to know what the three types of architectural horror are, listen to this episode. Back The Night Clerk on Backerkit! The Orpheus Protocol RPG is now on DrivethruRPG. Shout Outs * Bomb Rush Cyberfunk: The spiritual sequel to Jet Set Radio. A beautiful and fun game. * The Remnant 2: A new action RPG with great gameplay. * Bad Movie Bible: A fun Youtube channel discussing b-movies. * Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer: A love letter to 90s FPS games and teenage edgelord silliness.  

A system-less RPG scenario is designed to be able to run in any system for a particular genre. Writing one is just as challenging as writing one for a single system. I’m launching a crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit for The Night Clerk, a system-less modern horror scenario, as a zine. In this episode, Caleb Stokes, author of No Security a collection of system-less scenarios, and I talk about them. I also go a bit into using Backerkit as a creator. We also discuss architectural horror and what that term means. Sign up on the Backerkit pre-launch page to receive notification when the project goes live. It should start in early September! Check out Hebanon Games Open Design for more info on Red Markets Second Edition!

Many RPGs use d20s for resolving combat, like D&D, 13th Age, and Lancer. Caleb and I have been playing a lot of d20 games recently and we wanted to talk about the nature of d20 combat. It’s a very swingy system, where every combatant can miss in a single round, resulting in nothing happening. Can this problem be fixed? News: I am exporting all of RPPR’s back catalogue to Youtube! Listen to older episodes and share them with friends. Subscribe now to help us get more notice on the site. Caleb is running a Red Markets 2E playtest campaign. Go to Hebanon Games to listen and access the beta draft rules. Caleb’s also running a bunch of Delta Green on Dead Channels. Shout Outs * Deadly Dowagers: A fun board game about marrying rich men and murdering them for their estates. * Monk and Robot: A novel series about a traveling robot and monk. * Shiny Happy People: a documentary series about the evils of the Duggar family. * How to Blow Up a Pipeline: a film based on the book of the same name. * Worst of the Worst: A Youtube video essay series about the bottom level of combat sports. * Starship Troopers: Extermination – a co-op shooter about blowing up alien bugs and building bases.

We ran a Fate Core campaign called Cointract Island on RPPR Actual Play. Over 16 episodes, a trio of heroes explored an island overrun with genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced creatures. In this post mortem, Bridget, Fae, Lydia, and I discuss the campaign’s themes, the Fate system, and crypto bro culture. Bridget as Felicia, cat girl bartender Lydia as Aava Amaranth, cyborg hacker Fae as ‘Emily);Drop Table;– (AKA Indy), a scrappy scavenger

I talked with Greg Stolze, author of Reign, Termination Shock, co-author of Unknown Armies, and writer on many other books (and my co-host on Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast) about his new Kickstarter for Ships, a supplement for Termination Shock. We talked about the core mechanics for Termination Shock, game design, and crowd funding RPGs. Back Ships: How to Build and Blast Them on Kickstarter now! Greg has his own Termination Shock actual play podcast, if you want to hear how the game plays. I’ll be recording RPPR After Hours with Greg for the RPPR Patreon soon.

Delta Green is a popular horror RPG but it can be hard to understand how to get its tone or its procedural elements. Caleb, Jason, and I discuss some media to look at when trying to ‘get’ the Delta Green vibe. This is a preview episode of our new series on the RPPR Patreon, where we recommend media sources to inspire and inform for a particular genre or game. Check out the entire Recommendizer series on our Patreon! Check out Jason’s Warhammer streaming on Twitch! Caleb is running Delta Green on Dead Channels. Some media mentioned on this episode: * Lovecraft’s fiction – the inspiration for Delta Green. * True Detective Season 1 – what DG looks and feels like. Supernatural influence might be missable/explainable. * Occult America: Book on “esoteric undercurrents” in American history * X-Files – Monster of the Week, UFO mythology, government conspiracies and counter-conspiracies * To Live and Die in LA – procedural techniques and committing felonies to solve a case * Angel Heart – occult mystery/noir film. Great for atmosphere and tone. * The Spine Collector – long article on a book thief – the depths of which investigations go * FEAR – video game series mixing FPS gunplay with horror elements. * Extraction – the Netflix movie. Solid depiction of contemporary combat, both armed and unarmed, and ramifications of fighting in and against body armor. (Bonus points for showing the limitations and strengths of fighting with a karambit, for all those mall ninjas out there.)

Caleb is back discussing his progress on Red Markets. After a recent gaming retreat, Caleb developed a theory he wanted to discuss in this episode, about the obscene and the scene. The scene represents the public, socially acceptable aspects of a given object or activity. The obscene refers to the hidden, taboo aspects. In RPGs, the scene is what we say about our games but the obscene is how we actually engage with them. “I hate this game. I’ve run a hundred sessions of it.” There’s the promised version of a game during its Kickstarter campaign, the version delivered, and the version actually played. We discuss these weighty topics and how it is affecting the development of Red Markets. Check out Hebanon Open Game Design to keep track of Red Markets development!

In this episode, James Wallis, co-host of Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast and author of “Everybody Wins: Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made,” and I talk about what RPG designers can learn from board games. We talked about the history and influence of board games, the challenges of playtesting RPGs, and how incorporating board game mechanics can benefit RPG design. We also have some shout outs. News: On the RPPR Patreon, on the newest episode of After Hours, we discuss the most horrifying spells in Dungeons and Dragons. On Recommendizer, Thad and I talk about good inspirational sources for zombie apocalypse games. Our next campaign on RPPR Actual Play is Delta Green: Impossible Landscapes. Check out this poster for the campaign! Shout Outs * Who Fears the Devil: a collection of short stories about Silver John, who fights witches and ghosts in the Appalachian mountains. * The Night Ocean: a biographical novel of H.P. Lovecraft, his life, and the early days of fandom. * A Town Called Malice: a storytelling game inspired by Nordic noir and isolated small town horror. * Die: A comic series about RPG players entering in their fantasy campaign world * Terracotta Army: A worker placement board game about building statues for the emperor’s tomb. * Dread: A classic RPG that uses Jenga for its conflict resolution system. * Jury Duty: A reality comedy series about a fake trial and 1 real juror. Music: Chillhops Essentials Spring 2023

Wizards of the Coast has stepped on a series of rakes with a series of proposed changes to the Open Gaming License (OGL). What is the OGL and why is WOTC is trying to destroy a popular thing in the industry? Caleb and I discuss what’s going on and what some possible outcomes of this controversy are. News: Check out the newest episode of RPPR After Hours for a hilarious dive into the lowest rated Call of Cthulhu supplement! Caleb is running through God’s Teeth with a new player group on Delta Green: Dead Channels. You can find link to all of Caleb’s projects on his Link Tree. Shout Outs * The Menu: a foodie horror movie and one of the best from last year. * Manhunt: a brilliant new take on the zombie apocalypse genre * Warhammer 40k: Chaosgate – Daemonhunters: If you love XCOM style gameplay and 40k, this game is for you. * Neon White: Speedrunning taken to a new level. * Kaleidoscope: A Netflix mini series about a complex heist. * Stalcraft: Stalker in a Minecraft-style setting. Great music and free to play.