Role Playing Public Radio » Podcast Episode

RPPR Episode 69: Critique of Cthulhu

Ross — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:45:45 +0000

News: The Killsplosion alpha rules are out! If you contributed to the ransom and selected playtesting as a reward, you should have them.

Also, we have a RPPR Minecraft server. Check it out on Jan 22 3 to 5 pm CST for our first RPPR Minecraft event!

Synopsis: Call of Cthulhu is an institution of role playing, but few gamers truly appreciate it for what it is. Tom, Caleb and I break down the game mechanics, meta-game issues and themes of the Cthulhu Mythos in order to explain the good, bad and ugly of this venerable game. Many players dismiss Call of Cthulhu as a very rigid and narrowly focused game, but it offers a far richer gaming experience if you know how to play and more importantly run this game right!. Tom also has a letter, shout outs and an anecdote!

Shout outs

Instant City: A study in urban sprawl, globalization and politics.
The Tunnel: Freaky horror movie with an urban exploration angle.
Maniac Mansion 2: A classic adventure game with a twisted sense of humor.
Horse ebooks: The funniest twitter account in existence. Too many horses. Throw a horse away.
Fake iphone text: Generate iphone conversations as a handout in games.
Parker: The Outfit: Hardboiled crime graphic novel. Great art and dialogue.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: IT IS RUINED FOREVER WTF
The Movies: A video game about making movies. ACTION
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Gary Oldman says so much in so few words. Brilliant spy movie.

Music: What A Friend We Have In Cthulhu by the Fump and Cthulhu is my co-pilot by Smart Bomb Radio

RPPR Episode 68: Phases that are Eclipsed

Ross — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:59:21 +0000

This episode is sponsored by Audible.com. Sign up today for a free audiobook and 14 day trial!

Synopsis: This episode will begin a new series of episodes, each focusing on a particular game system. This time, we talk about the transhuman sci-fi game, Eclipse Phase. Caleb joins Tom and I to discuss our reactions to reading, playing and running the game. The game can be intimidating at first, especially with the exotic technology and setting. Even once you get used to the game, there are more subtle pitfalls that can unbalance a game.Plus Tom has a letter, shout outs from all three of us and an Eclipse Phase anecdote about robbing a bank ON THE MOON

If you liked this discussion, comment on what game we should talk about next!

Shout outs

RPPR Minecraft Server: Join us! Just don’t be a douche.
Eclipse Phase Character Generator: Download the most recent version.
Eclipse Phase NPC Files: Essential for anyone running a game of EP.
Spirit of Redemption: Mass Effect serial fanfiction.
Next Time on Lonny: Hilarious web series that must be seen. Dog Moon told me so.
Hunger Games – Training Days: A Hunger Games board game.
Bubbles and Troubles: A Cthulhu Dark scenario written by a RPPR listener. Only 99 cents!
Drunk and Ugly Podcast: They’re running my campaign Road Trip. If you’re AP fiend, give them a listen!
You Are Not So Smart: A primer on cognitive biases and pop neuroscience.
Fright Night: The remake is surprisingly good. Worth watching.
Glue Some Gears On It: Steampunk is dead. Long live Steampunk.
Unspeakable! A new episode will be online soon.
Humble Bundle 4: Get vidya games for cheap and donate to charity.
Zone One: Life after a zombie apocalypse is not so fun.

Song: DB Pure – Me Ri Tu (Djs From Mars Club Remix)

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 67: Be a Better Player

Ross — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:56:16 +0000

News: The Killsplosion Kickstarter is a success! I’ve acquired a HD camcorder so we’ll start recording videos soon. The Artemis Spaceship Simulator will take some planning to figure out but we will do it. I’ve also set up a RPPR Minecraft server! Check this thread for the address.

Synopsis: We usually focus on advice for GMs creating or running games. This time, we want to focus on providing advice for players. So we’ve come up with a Be A Better Play Challenge. We want you to determine one thing you can do in your game to make yourself a better player. To help you along, Tom and I discuss some ways in which you can improve your game such as writing a better PC back story, table etiquette and playing against type. Tom also has a new letter and of course anecdotes and shouts.

Shout outs:

RPPR Minecraft server: Join us! A new world of adventure and jackassery await
Rare Exports: Batshit insane movie about Santa Claus and the true meaning of Christmas
Skyrim: Because of reasons
Night’s Black Agents: Espionage and vampires in a RPG
War of the Undead: A graphic novel about Nazis, zombies and more
Black Crusade: The heavy metal album cover RPG
Big Fan: Patton Oswalt is an obsessed football fan in this dark comedy
Citation Needed: A compilation of the weirdest entries in Wikipedia
Boardwalk Empire: HBO does violence. Well.
Laser Mission: The Rifftrax is funny. The movie itself is pretty awful.
Fear the Boot: The Kenneth Hite interview is great
Jennisodes: Fascinating game design panel

Song: Monster remix by DotEXE

RPPR Episode 66: Building Better Worlds

Ross — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:58:37 +0000

News: Support the Killsplosion Kickstarter and get 10 new preview RPPR AP episodes!

Zombies of the World Episode 4 is online. Watch it here.

Synopsis: World building is an important skill for GMs but it’s a tricky skill to learn. It’s easy to get lost in the details, obsessing over minor elements that will never see the light of day. Tom and I discuss how we approach world building and the pitfalls we’ve learned to avoid. Tom also has a short story that will be used in the Killsplosion RPG called Clucking Hell. You can read the story on Kickstarter as well.

Shout out:

Killing Floor: It has a chicken suit skin for players. YES.
The Stuff: In 1980s horror film, yogurt eats you!
Danger 5: New and insane web series from the people that did Italian Spiderman
Black Roses Rock music causes demonic possession apparently.
Metachaos: 1/1d6 SAN loss experimental short film.
Carnosaur: A cheap cash-in dinosaur horror movie with a weird subtext.
McMafia: A great breakdown of current global crime syndicates.

Music: Blood Brothers: First Blood by Mad Decent

RPPR Episode 65: Fear in the Long Haul

RPPR Episode 65: Fear in the Long Haul

Ross — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:26:33 +0000

This episode is sponsored by Audible Books. Sign up today and get a free 14 day trial and audiobook.

News: Check out the newest RPPR Kickstarter: Killsplosion! A rules light competitive PvP tabletop RPG. Get 10 preview RPPR Actual Play episodes when you contribute $20 or more.

Zombies of the World on sale! Get your print copy autographed by the RPPR group or get the PDF for only $2.99

Synopsis: We’ve been talking about adventure and campaign design lately, so we thought it would be appropriate for an episode on horror campaigns and how to run them. The pacing for a horror campaign is different because characters in these games tend to wear down through attrition. Thus, you have to take into account their reduced capabilities when designing adventures or plan for a new way to insert new player characters when the existing ones die or go mad. Furthermore, less is more when it comes to horror. A slight aberration from the mundane is often more terrifying than random tentacle monsters. Tom did not write a letter but we do have shout outs and anecdotes.

Shout outs:

Nostalgic Critic: The Haunting – find out which was the best version of this haunted house movie.
Z.N.A: Journey: A zombie apocalypse ebook. Short and entertaining.
Patton Oswalt – Finest Hour: A new comedy CD by Patton Oswalt.
Fantasy by DYE: Electro song with epic music video. NSFW.
Prince of Darkness: Part of John Carpenter’s Apocalypse trilogy.
The Dedicated: A modded Killing Floor server with new weapons and high level perks.
The Thing: Classic alien sci-fi horror and part of the Apocalypse trilogy.
The Hunger Games Trilogy: Great dystopian sci-fi novel series.
In the Mouth of Madness: Lovecraftian horror film and part of the Apocalypse trilogy.

Song: Forest of Fear by Bob Dean

RPPR Episode 64: Adventures in Adventuring

Ross — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:53:29 +0000

News: This episode is sponsored by Audible Books. Sign up today and get a free 14 day trial and audiobook.

Zombies of the World is on sale during October! Save $5 off the print edition or $2 off the ebook edition.

Synopsis: Adventure design for long term campaigns is different than designing for a one shot scenario. Keeping up with the entirety of a complex ruleset is impossible for a campaign so you must determine what rules to keep track of and what to ignore. Adventures have to be geared to specific player characters. You can’t keep adding on new elements into the campaign. Instead, you must provide closure for the plot elements you do introduce. We discuss all of these topics and more. Furthermore, Tom has a new letter, shout outs and more.

Shout outs:

Com Truise: Ultra chillax 80s style electronic music. Check out the ultimate 80s cyberpunk music video.
I Sell the Dead: Grave robbers sell corpses to doctors. Undead appear. Hilarity ensues.
Shadow of a Dead Star: Sci-fi horror novel delving into the depravities of the cybernetics black market.
Adventures of Pete and Pete: One of the great shows made by Nickelodeon in the 90s.
Z.N.A: Zombie survival horror novella. Worth the 99 cents to a zombie fan.
Delilah Dirk: High adventure webcomic with incredible art.
Monster Pulse: Kids with monsters fight an evil government conspiracy.
Hark A Vagrant: A print edition of one of the funniest webcomics of all time.

Song: League of Extraordinary Adventurers by Sounda

RPPR Episode 63: Stylish Substance

Ross — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:38:02 +0000

Ad: Critical Miss magazine edited by Jonny Nexus.

Synopsis: Adventure design is a complex topic so we’d thought we would delve into it once again. In this episode, Tom and I discuss the difference between good design choices and style choices. While good design is applicable to any genre of RPG scenario, it is possible to make choices in creating an adventure that only work under certain circumstances. The choice to emphasize one aspect of a game over another isn’t necessarily right or wrong. It’s a style choice. Hack and slash versus political intrigue? Style. Dungeon crawling versus mass battles? Style. Tom also has a new letter entailing the virtues of various cinematic firearms.

Shout outs:

Americus: A graphic novel about a student dealing with a book banning. Excellent writing and art.
Island of the Fishmen: Bizarre Italian horror flick about fishmen.
Cthulhu Dark: An ultra rules light RPG of Cthulhu inspired insanity.
Messiah of Evil: Public domain 1970s Lovecraftian zombie horror film
Bastion: Amazing indie RPG with unique setting, art and music
Cargo: The most Eclipse Phase-ish sci fi movie I’ve seen in a while
Seven Minutes in Heaven: Hilariously awkward interviews. Check out Elijah Wood’s interview.

Song: PonPonPon De Floor mashup (special request from Caleb)

RPPR Episode 62: Post Gencon 2011 Wrapup part 2

Ross — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 02:24:50 +0000

News: Check out Raillery Redux, my new video game focused podcast.

Synopsis: In this episode, we bring in Aaron and David to discuss their experiences at Gencon 2011. Aaron ran three sessions of a Monsters and Other Childish Things game based on the Secrets of NIMH while this was David’s first Gencon. David cosplayed as an anime character, so he had a different experience. We also go over our purchases at Gencon and share more anecdotes from con games.

Shout outs:

The Last Lovecraft: A horror-comedy about the Cthulhu Mythos and H.P. Lovecraft.
Stealing Cthulhu: the perfect resource to jumpstart your next Cthulhu mythos based game
The Noodle Company: Holy shit they have great noodles
7 Wonders: A board game of skill and strategy
LFG volume 2: If you like the webcomic, you’ll like this print collection
Hobomancer: Magic hobos fight crime or evil or some junk. Awesome name for a game
Arkham Horror: It’s still the best Cthulhu themed board game ever
Shane Ivey: Keep up with the Arc Dream publisher on Twitter
Adam Scott Glancy: BUY HIS BOOKS
Mutuk Wolfsbreath Hard Boiled Shaman: Film Noir meets Siberian shamanism. AND IT WORKS
The Hunger Games: Battle Royale as a YA novel series. Very gameable material

Song: Comedians by Cossbysweater

RPPR Episode 61: Post Gencon 2011 wrapup part 1

Ross — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:14:10 +0000

This year’s Gencon was so great, we will have to do two episodes to cover it all. In this episode, we bring RPPR regular Caleb to discuss his first impressions of the con and the games he ran and played in. We all talk about the newest games we picked up and Tom discusses the game he ran and other things he did.

I also interviewed George Strayton, creator of The Secret Fire, a new fantasy RPG. It’s a short interview but I added in place of Tom’s letter. He discusses the design philosophy behind the game, his background as a screenwriter and more.

Shout outs

Panopticon: The newest Eclipse Phase supplement.
Zombie Spaceship Wasteland: A hilarious book by Patton Oswalt.
Old School Hack: Awesome free rules-light RPG and gold Ennie winner.
Delta Green Gencon Panel: Listen to the informative Delta Green/Unspeakable Oath panel recorded at this Gencon.
Cthulhu Invictus: Cthulhu in ancient Rome. A winning combination!

Song: Zombie by Anssi 8000 and Maria Stereo

RPPR Episode 60: It’s not a cliche!

Ross — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:34:39 +0000

News: Vote for Monsters and Other Childish Things: Road Trip (Cubicle 7/Arc Dream Publishing) in the best adventure category. Be sure to vote it as #1!

Zombies of the World products now have free US shipping. Order your copy today.

Synopsis: THIS IS A NSFW EPISODE. Tom remembered a horribly boring dungeon crawl campaign he suffered from in his youth. He wanted to take the cliches he saw in that game and make them actually fun. So, we discuss how to take cliches like traps, prisoners and treasure in dungeons and make them new and exciting. Also, because we are horrible, horrible monsters we read another excerpt from the rpg.net FATAL review. Also, Tom was too busy to write a letter. Be sure to let him know that you like his letters. Maybe he’ll grace us with a letter again. Maybe.

Shout outs:

Emissary of War: An iOS RPG created by a RPPR listeners. Check out the trailer
Re: Old Spice – Cthulhu wants to talk about deodorant. Plus a brain in a jar.
Calypsis: Post-apocalyptic dystopian novel written as a wiki.
SVK: Warren Ellis wrote a unique comic that utilizes ultraviolet light and ink.
The Presidents: History Channel TV show boxed set about the US presidents
Cthulhu Saves the World: Now on PC via Steam. Less than three bucks too
Conspiracy: History Channel show about conspiracy theories

Song: Good Days and Cliches by Nevernoodz

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 59: Bildungsroman

Ross — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:58:01 +0000

Zombies of the World is now available in print, PDF and Kindle format!

My book, Road Trip, has been nominated for an Ennie!

Synopsis: Bildungsroman is a fancy way of describing the ‘youth to adulthood’ genre – stories like “to Kill a Mockingbird” where the character grows from a child to become an adult or closer to an adult. Role playing games are often like these stories – characters grow from being relatively weak and naive to eventually becoming epic badasses of destiny. However, many game systems do not encourage character growth – advancement is slow, ponderous and mechanically difficult. Furthermore, most campaigns are relatively short – interrupted or abandoned for myriad reasons. If you want players to grow at a faster pace, what should you do? How is mechanical growth different from role playing growth? Tom and I discuss these issues and more. Plus, instead of a letter, Tom and I read an excerpt from the infamous rpg.net review of FATAL. It’s definitely NSFW.

Shout outs

Attack the Gas Station 1 and 2: Hilariously insane Korean comedies.
The Eliminators: An action sci-fi movie with ninjas, mandroids, cavemen, robots and time travel. Follows the conventions of RPGs coincidentally enough.
Ugly Americans: an animated sitcom about monsters and normal people living together.
Killing Floor: Steampunk/circus summer event going on right now! Monkeys with chainsaws!
Steam Summer Sale: only a few days left!
The Man From Nowhere: Intense Korean action/thriller. Do not fuck with the pawnshop owner.

Promo: Explodey File podcast.

Song: Growing up and Getting out by Adam Boucher.

RPPR Episode 58: The Games of Tomorrow

Ross — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:46:09 +0000

oh 80s cyberpunk, you will always have a place in my heart

Synopsis: Science fiction is an under appreciated genre in role playing games. Fantasy (Dungeons and Dragons) and horror (World of Darkness) dominate RPGs and most of the popular sci-fi games out there aren’t really science fiction or are horribly anachronistic. Tom and I discuss the state of science fiction and how it is different than fantasy or horror. As the literature of ideas, sci-fi should play differently than other genres. Everything from thematic content to the design of the game should be affected. We also have a letter from Tom, shout outs, an anecdote and reader letters.

Shout outs:

Phenomena: A dreamlike horror fairy tale from Dario Argento.
Dinosaur Rap: A Whitest Kids You Know comedy sketch
The Found Footage Festival: The most bizarre and surreal videos of the past. Behold the Clown Ministry and weep
Unspeakable! A podcast about Call of Cthulhu and Delta Green. Episode 1 is online
Magicka: Nippon and Marshlands: new DLC for Magicka
Risking it all: Pakistan – documentary about the risks truck drivers make in the treacherous mountains of Pakistan.
Black Black Jobs: First scenario anthology for The Laundry RPG

Music: Science Fiction by the Cobra Dukes.

RPPR Episode 57: Read the Fine Print

Ross — Wed, 18 May 2011 04:56:08 +0000

Watch Zombies of the World episode 1: Migration and learn how it was made on the ZOTW blog.

If you want to contribute art for the Lemurian Ruins – email rpprpodcast@gmail.com.

Synopsis: Game balance is a tricky thing. While in some cases, it’s easy to spot an unbalanced system like Palladium or Synnibarr but other times, a game’s imbalances won’t be revealed until you’ve played it for a while. So what do you when you find out that the game you’re playing is unbalanced? We discuss how to deal with these situations. It’s possible to change systems, house rule it so that it’s balanced or use the social contract to keep things fair. Also instead of a letter, Tom talks about having a cyst cut out of him. It’s really gross (NSFW link do not click this)

Shout outs:

Linotype: An upcoming documentary about the linotype machine.
Tucker and Dale vs Evil: Very funny horror-comedy about college students vs. hapless hillbillies.
Rubber: A movie about a psychic killer tire. Why is this great? No reason.
Hobo with a Shotgun: Rutger Hauer murders bad guys with a shotgun. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT
Mortal Kombat 9: Old school controls with brand new graphics.
The Unspeakable Oath: The best Call of Cthulhu magazine in this universe (or any other for that matter)
Spirit of Truth/Redemption: A Mass Effect fanfic that Tom really enjoyed.
Mafia 2: It’s like a mob movie but you get to shoot the guys.
Dread: Unique horror RPG with a unusual conflict resolution mechanic…
Magicka Vietnam: wizards with AK-47s mowing down goblin and orc hordes. Fun times.

Music: Our Life Our Rules by Moral Decline

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 56: But the Railroading’s on Time

Ross — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:45:19 +0000

RPPR News: We have a mirror of all of our episodes on archive.org. Catch up with our older episodes or send the link to a friend to introduce them to us. I’ve also updated the Zombies of the World blog going behind the scenes on how I created it.

Synopsis: Running a game in a timely manner is a daunting task. Many convention games fail to finish in 4 hours and a lot of players think that 6-12 hours for a single session is normal. We here at RPPR get shit done and want to help you also get shit done. How can you keep a game running without wasting a lot of time? Tom has a letter, shout outs and an anecdote from Tom’s latest Call of Cthulhu game.

Shout outs:

The blog of Ab3: The writer behind the Ab3 rants has his own blog with new material. Check it out!
Marble Hornets DVD: One of the freakiest things I’ve seen in a long time now on DVD. Get it or Slender Man will take you.
Jane’s Flighter Anthology: old flight sim. Blow up or fly Air Force One.
Tenebre: Masterpiece giallo from Argento. A serial killer stalks a writer in Rome. Great soundtrack as well.
The Return of Godzilla: A classic Godzilla must smash all things movie.
Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness: Must play board games for dedicated Lovecraft fans.
Betrayal at House on the Hill: A new edition of this board game is out which fixes a number of errors in the first edition.
Lead and Gold: Great multiplayer shooter set in the Wild West. Cheap too!
The Indie Humble Bundle: Get 5 computer games for whatever price you wish to pay.
Your Highness: A stoner fantasy comedy. Pineapple Express with wizards and weed.
OSS Training Films: Learn how to derail trains and infiltrate enemy territory OSS style.

Music: Airbrushed by Anamaguchi

RPPR Episode 55: One for the Recordbooks

Ross — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:23:49 +0000

Preorder my new book Zombies of the World and get a free poster and shipping!

The RPPR Forums now support the iPhone and Android app Tapatalk. Post wherever and whenever you want. Go nuts!

Synopsis: Every once in a while in a campaign, you need to shake things up with a big event – an epic boss fight or jaw dropping action scene that ties up a campaign or story arc. Of course, in order to make things memorable, you need to up your game as a GM. But how do you go above and beyond? Tom and I discuss ways to psyche the players up, prep for a big event and run it. Plus Tom has a letter, shout outs and anecdotes.

Shout outs

Operation Family Secrets: This family is nothing but secrets and lies! SECRETS AND LIES
We didn’t playtest this at all: An insanely fun card game with an honest title
Zombies of the World: BUY MY BOOK
The Music Scene: Chillax album from Blockhead

Music: My Skateboard will go on by Anamanaguchi

RPPR Episode 24: GO GO GO! and other Action Movie Cliches

RPPR Episode 54: Immerse Me!

Ross — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:10:46 +0000

Immersion is a tricky element of tabletop RPGs. In order to achieve it, a GM must first design a good scenario. In this episode, Tom, special guest Caleb and I discuss how we design adventures and other related topics. The effects of a game system on immersion and how to deal with players that lose immersion in a game. Tom also has a letter and of course shout outs and anecdotes.

Shout outs

RPPR Community AP Podcast: If the main RPPR AP podcast isn’t enough…
Elephant Men Vol 1: A sci fi noir comic series of mutated soldiers
Amnesia Dark Descent: A creepy Lovecraftian horror video game.
Custom dice from Ean Moody: Get awesome skull dice!
Lucid Chart: Flow chart program
The Brain: 80s horror film about an evil man eating brain
Theories of International Politics and Zombies: Zombies are serious business
Videodrome: ALL HAIL THE NEW FLESH
Rebuild: A Flash Zombie post apocalyptic RTS
Andrew Vachss: Incredible crime novelist and inspiration for Andrew’s Fortune
Teatro Grottesco: An anthology of Thomas Ligotti short stories.

Podcast Promo: Redline Theatre - radio theater podcast
Other podcasts (I couldn’t find promos to play from you guys): Zero Fortitude, Drunk and Ugly and Booster Pack

Song: Immersed by Allison Crowe

RPPR Episode 53: You Lie! Rhetoric and Large Groups

Ross — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 06:40:29 +0000

Thank you RPPR listeners! The Ruins of Lemuria PDF Ransom was a success! We are hard at work behind the scenes creating many cool things for you and running games over Skype for the ransom contributors.

Synopsis: Rhetoric is a divisive issue in tabletop games. Where do you draw the line between a player’s skill in speech and the PC’s ability? Tom and I discuss how rhetoric touches on game design, running a game and player vs. player conflicts. I’ve also started a superheroes campaign, using Wild Talents for the rules, and this time around we have seven players. A large group presents quite a few interesting challenges so we discuss how to run a game with a huge number of players.

Shout outs

Zombie Panic: Free zombie themed multiplayer FPS mod for the Source Engine
The Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games: Critical analysis of RPGs
By Dawn’s Early Light: Like Dr. Strangelove without the comedy.
Debris volume 1 and 2: Insane montages of the most obscure and crazy films and video footage EVER
Angry Joe Show: It’s a review show. Tom likes it.
Comic Jumper: Xbox live arcade game about comic books. It’s funny and pretty hard
asdfmovies: funny youtube videos.
The Laundry: Horror-comedy RPG based on Charles Stross’ Atrocity Archives novel series.

Music: I can be persuaded by Mars

RPPR Episode 52: Holiday Dash

Ross — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:25:04 +0000

CONTRIBUTE TO THE RUINS OF LEMURIA KICKSTARTER TO GET 10 PREVIEW AP EPISODES OR A SEAT A SKYPE GAME RUN BY ROSS PAYTON!

Synopsis: Chase scenes are an underutilized element in many games. A staple of action stories but RPGs focus on social scenes and combat. This is because it’s hard for a GM to make a chase scene actually exciting. Special guest RJ joins us as we discuss ways to make a boring chase scene into an epic one. Tom does not have a letter, but we do have many special holiday shout outs and a few anecdotes.

Forum Shout Outs:

My Rifts Experiment: Palladium offers a grab bag of random products. I promise to run a game based on what they give me.
Junk Mail Novel: Spam is like poetry, man.
Ruins of Lemuria Kickstarter: Learn what kind of games I’ll run over Skype and if you have any questions about the PDF then ask them here.

Holiday Shout Outs below the fold

Song: Chase Scene Through DNA Wormholes by Rubber Band Banjo

Fear The Boot: Thanks for mentioning us and glad you enjoy the APs!
Octopus Pie: A print collection of a funny and well drawn web comic
The Blob (remake): Kids die in it so it must be good!
Angel Heart: A noir/horror film featuring incredible atmosphere and a young Mickey Rourke. A must see.
Airplane Special Edition: The comedy classic THAT ALL MUST WATCH. And don’t call me Shirley.
Slugfest Games: Makers of fun and cheap games like Kung Fu Fighting.
Delta Force: Chuck Norris kills terrorists and saves America from evil.
Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema - South African crime epic with some great twists
Brian Regan: Hilarious stand up comic now on tour with all new material.
Dragon Age Ultimate Edition: I LIKE VIDEO GAMES AND THIS ONE IS BEST
Eclipse Phase Sunward and GM Screen: Brain candy for sci fi fans – fun even if you don’t play EP.
Hero Lab: Great character creation software for a variety of systems. Pricey though.
Near Dark: The best vampire movie to come out of the 1980s.
A Song of Ice and Fire RPG: Based on the acclaimed novels.
Undercover Brother: Blaxplotiation parody and a good one at that.
Chessex Pound of Dice: Enough dice to murder someone!
A Dirty World: The best new game (new to us) for the RPPR crew of 2010.

RPPR Episode 51: Info Dump

Ross — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 06:21:53 +0000

Synopsis: In fiction, revealing too much information right away is a sign of bad storytelling. In role playing games, it’s often essential for a good session. Game masters have to realize that what they think the players should know is often not enough for the players to actually understand what’s going on. We discuss the importance of information and how to make sure that everyone know what’s going on. Tom has a letter and we have shout outs and an anecdote.

Shout outs

Rise Again – a zombie novel with evil mercenaries
Police Squad – a funny as hell TV comedy
The Unwritten - A meta-fantasy epic comic from Vertigo
Gamma World – Gonzo sci fi role playing game
The Walking Dead - an amazing TV show about surviving a zombie apocalypse

Forum Shout outs

Order66 Tribute: A very special tribute for a very special forums member
Pick the Best of RPPR: Help us pick the very best RPPR material for Youtube
Pirates and Cthulhu: a winning combination!

Music: The Information Age by Anthony Fiaumano

RPPR Episode 28: Great. Expectations.

RPPR Episode 50: Danse Macabre 2: Electric Boogaloo

Ross — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:50:11 +0000

Halloween is right around the corner so we are once again talking about running terrifying games. RPGs can’t really provide shocks like film or TV, but it’s still possible to run a truly scary game by keeping a few principles in mind. Specifically, a GM should focus on presenting ambigious information, giving players some but not total control and characterizing NPCs and monsters well. Tom finally has a letter and some shout outs and a reader letter.

Shout outs:

Night of the Hunter: A brilliant and terrifying film blending film noir and fairy tales. Robert Mitchum’s preacher is legendary as the villain.
Virus: A 1980 Japanese post apocalyptic sci-fi film. Sonny Chiba’s in it! Hard to find though.
Four Dragons: A new Stargate novel written by Diana Botsford.
Smother Brothers’ Comedy Hour: Comedy in an era of censorship. Funny stuff.
Salvage: A British horror film with great acting and very gameable material.
Ghost Stories: a horror-comedy anime series.

Music: Danse Macabre by David Kempers

RPPR Episode 49: Morality Role Play

Ross — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:50:53 +0000

Morality and alignment are two of the trickiest issues in tabletop RPGs. Every player has their own perspective, beliefs and biases and they frequently come out during play. How do you deal with conflicts over moral dilemmas? We go over several possible reasons why this occurs and how to resolve it. Tom forgot his letter at work, but we do have several shout outs and anecdotes:

Minecraft: A highly addicting computer game of building and violent death, still in alpha but worth the $13
The Daily Show: Earth. A book about Earth by the writers of the Daily Show. It’s funny, I am guessing.
A Dirty World: Excellent film noir inspired RPG by Greg Stolze.
Brian Regan: Epitome of Hyperbole. A comedy DVD from the stand up comic.
Rififi: A film noir classic. A jewel heist goes awry in Paris and someone must pay the price.
Citizen Cohn: A film about McCarthy’s lawyer, played by James Wood.
E.S. Posthumus – Makara: Cinematic music that is perfect for gaming.
Point of Order: A documentary about the McCarthy trials.
Ean Moody and Violet Kirk: two great artists available for commissions.

Song: Fuck Your Morals by Nothing in Return

RPPR Episode 48: Under A Dark Sun

Ross — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:32:41 +0000

My campaign for Monsters & Other Childish Things, Road Trip is out! Buy your copy now.
Cody has a new blog, Popgun Chaos. Read his reviews and essays about comics and bask in his glory.
The Get Aaron to Gencon Kickstarter was a success! Listen to Aaron’s game. If you contributed enough to get a button or DVD, bug Aaron about it.

Episode Synopsis: The newest campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons, Dark Sun, is out and we’ve already started the new RPPR campaign. Cody reviews the book and we discuss the book’s new rules and background information. We also talk about some of the other new games we picked up at Gencon this year. Plus, a new letter from Tom, anecdotes and shout outs:

Shout Outs

Operation Endgame: The Office meets Battle Royale. Hilarious and violent, a winning combination!
Childrens Hospital: A funny new show on Adult Swim
Rubicon: A great conspiracy show on AMC. Brand new so catch up with it now.
I, Zombie: A new zombie comic published by Vertigo. Great art and writing so far.
Emerald Warriors: Green Lanterns fight crime. Cosmically. Or something.
Visions of Suffering: a heart warming tale of gore and fear. Also, Russian.
Talking with the Gods: documentary about crazy man and comic writer Grant Morrison.
Wednesday Comics: Retro themed comics from the best writers and artists.

Music: Dark Sun by The Curtains and Their Terrifying Story

RPPR Episode 47: Adventures in the Real World

Ross — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:49:25 +0000

My campaign for Monsters and Other Childish Things, Road Trip is available for pre-order! Buy it here!

The Codex of War is out! Download it here.
If you like our AP episodes, donate to the ‘Get Aaron to Gencon’ Kickstarter to get early access to 5 AP episodes.

The real world holds just as much adventure as any fantasy or sci-fi setting. In this episode, Tom and I discuss various types of games you could run based in the real world with normal PCs (with no extraordinary abilities or cinematic fighting skills). There are more possibilities than you might realize.

Shout Outs

Music: Anything 4 Adventure by the Jim Morey Band.

If a real world campaign interests you, check out the following resources below the fold.

I outlined a campaign based on contemporary insurgencies and guerrilla warfare. Imagine the challenges a Human Terrain Team in Afghanistan faces or normal people caught between warring factions in Iraq. There’s also the Naxalite rebellion in India, Mexican drug cartels challenging the government and gang war in Brazilian Favelas.

Global Guerrillas: A great blog on guerrilla warfare, terrorism and insurgencies
McMafia: a book about the new trends in criminal syndicates and cartels around the world.
Cities Under Siege: a book on political violence in cities today and how it affects life in them.
Shock Doctrine: How governments and corporations exploit disasters for profit.
Off the Books: A study of the black market economy in the ghetto.
Wonga Coup: An account of how a few Westerners tried to take over a country in Africa and failed.

RPPR Episode 46: PvP is tearing us apart

Ross — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:27:31 +0000

Role playing is a collaborative hobby but conflicts between players and the GM inevitably arise. Cody, Dan, Tom and I discuss how adversarial gaming can affect your game and how to deal with it. RJ and I also talk about the new online tabletop section of the RPPR forums and we get into a discussion of the differences between long standing campaigns and shorter ones. We also have a few anecdotes and shout outs:

The RPPR Steam Group: If you play games over Steam, then join us and play l4d2 or other games with Ross or other RPPR fans.
Battlefield Baseball: A crazy Japanese action movie about baseball and zombies.
Coup de Torchon: A brilliant crime movie and an “engrossing and unsettling meditation on moral collapse.”
Rocket Knight: vidya game about a steam powered opossum knight.
The Hidden: Great HL2 mod. One invisible monster vs a team of commandos. Who will win?
Player Strategy Guide: A 4E book for players new to the game. Good advice on tactics and role playing.
Joe the Barbarian: Grant Morrison written comic of a child’s fantasy world. Think Narnia but crazier.

Music: Joe’s Confession by Game Over

RPPR Episode 45: Of Dice and Men

Ross — Tue, 04 May 2010 05:53:31 +0000

For this episode, we have Cody and RJ as guests and we discuss how to deal with improbable and implausible player devised plans. While heist movies are based on elaborate schemes, does every game need a 20 step plan in order to slip past a single guard? We also talk about current RPPR projects. The Codex of War is still underway but we have made significant progress. RPPR regular Aaron will undergo training as a Call of Cthulhu GM and I’ve written a campaign for Monsters and Other Childish Things. We also talk about an anecdote about a truly terrible GM.

Shout Outs

Echo Bazaar: Very original and unique browser based game. Free to play and features great writing!
Sword of the Stars: A fun 4X PC game with 3 expansions out.
Frozen Synapse: Indie PC tactical strategy game. Lead a team of commandos to take out the enemy.
Hell House: A documentary about Christian haunted houses.
Bigger Bads: A new Monsters and Other Childish Things supplement. Play giant monsters!
Targets of Opportunity: A brand new Delta Green book! Over 300 pages! HOLY FUCK IS IT AMAZING.

Music: Hyrule’s Angel (The Sleeping Beauty) by Game Over

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 44: Don’t Hate the Game

Ross — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:53:38 +0000

In this episode, we have a special guest: Mike from Bear Swarm. We discuss why edition wars and hating on games in discussions is a pointless endeavor and why people endlessly flame each other over them. We also talk about Catalyst Game Labs and of course, Tom has a letter.

Shout Outs:

Triangle: A great horror film that is better the less you know about it before you watch it.
Pandemic: A board game about stopping a global pandemic. You usually fail.
Imaginary Monsters: A web comic about monsters and dungeons.
Poo: A card game about monkeys flinging poo.
Casshern: The live action Japanese 2007 sci-fi flick. Crazy effects and nonsensical plot.
MD Geist: Ultra violent 80s anime that features gamer logic.
Iron Tyrants: ROBOT SMASHING FIGHTING TIME
Sin Titulo: Eisner nominated web comic. Very creepy and a great read.

Music: Cataclysmic Crash by Game Over.

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 43: Forcing Friends and Brainwashing Enemies

Ross — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 04:45:36 +0000

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Codex of War Ransom!

In this episode, Cody, Tom and I discuss the use of social skills against other players, because of this blog post. When I ran a game at Fear the Con, I disallowed a player to use a persuasion skill against another player. We disagree and explain our beliefs towards the use of social skills and free will in games.

RPPR Forums Threads of Note

Shout Outs

music: social critique of madison by The Hussy

RPPR Episode 42: Sense of Wonder

Ross — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:36:05 +0000

New Rewards for the Codex of War Ransom! Have Ross run a game of YOUR CHOICE over Skype!

In this episode we discuss how to add a sense of wonder to your game. Tabletop RPGs are only limited by your imagination yet too many games are dull dungeon crawl affairs of 10 foot wide corridors and orcs guarding pies, forever. So how do you get that overwhelming awe in your game? We both talk about a few ways to introduce it using examples from earlier games. As Tom was too busy playing video games to write a letter (again), I read a story from Ichor Falls called Candle Cove.

Forum Shout-outs

Other Shout-outs

Music: Wonder 2 Wonder by The Flavor Foundation

RPPR Episode 41: The Smoking d20

Ross — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:31:21 +0000

Zombies of the World: a web series from RPPR co-host Ross Payton. Visit the Zombies of the World website and tell your friends about it!

The Codex of War: A New World Campaign PDF ransom is up! Donate now to make sure we meet the goal!

Synopsis: Running a mystery based game is far different than an action based game. Tom has realized this after running several Call of Cthulhu games so we decided that talking about the differences in structure from an action to an investigative game would be a good topic for the show. We go over how to prepare a mystery game, what you should read to learn more about them and how to run them. If you want to see how I run a mystery that I created myself, check out the AP I just posted, The Arcadia Signal. Instead of a letter from Tom (since he is too busy playing Mass Effect 2 to write one), I read an excerpt from the utterly hilarious novel, How I became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely.

Shout outs below the fold.

Shout outs:

Soma FM Mission Control: Chillax music and live audio from the ISS. Groovy! (Thanks Patrick F!)
Skin Deep: A webcomic about monsters, set in the Ozarks.
Stuck and The Killing Room: Two decent horror/thriller movies.
Beyond the Pale: A Jim Gaffigan comedy album.
Playborg Photographers: A Greg Stolze short fiction ransom
This Kenneth Hite blog post – great design advice for all you rpg writers
Sleepyhead – an amazing and HAPPY music video using only old archival footage. Great editing!
Hanna is not a Boy’s Name: A webcomic also about monsters. This one has zombies.
How I became a famous novelist: The funniest fucking novel I’ve ever read.

Music: Re: Your Brains by Jonathan Coulton.

RPPR Episode 40: First Time GMing

Ross — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:15:05 +0000

In this episode, we have two guests, Cody and Aaron, to help us dispense advice for newbie game masters and share stories of our novice attempts at running a game. Plus the usual letter from Tom, an anecdote and an explanation of the phrase “There’s monsters in the school, Tom.”

Promos

Fear The Con: We’ll be there!
Nerdbound: They run a campaign based in the New World.

Shout Outs

Team Conan! Show your support
Sequart. Deep writing about comix.
Rad Anthem: Incredibly awesome music video and the song is available as a free download.
Fawlty Towers: A BBC sitcom starring John Cleese.
Daybreakers: Vampiric cinematic gore and fun.
Gomorra: A recent Italian gangster epic worth watching.
Horribleville Volume 1: A collection of comics from KC Green. Highly recommended!
The Burma Chronicles: A cartoonist spends a year in the worst dictatorship in the world.

Song: Rad Anthem by Rad Omen.

RPPR Episode 39: 2009 Year in Review

Ross — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:30:47 +0000

In this episode, Tom and I review 2009 in terms of gaming. The most memorable moments, games we played, games we wished we played and more. We also go over some of what we have planned for 2010 and Toms has some ‘anti-resolutions’ for New Years in his letter.

Shout Outs

Eclipse Phase Quick-Start Rules
Dead Snow: Nazi Zombies plus college students FTW
Russian versus fights – crazy cartoons of various people fighting to the death
Tetris God – a funny video from college humor
We got That B-Roll – as long as it isn’t too specific

Song: New Year’s Resolution by Bill DeRome.

RPPR Epsiode 38: Fight me or Give me a Quest

Ross — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:03:03 +0000

If you are a fan of our Actual Play episodes, head over to the brand new RPPR Actual Play Podcast. It will feature a new AP episode every single week! We’ve already got over 11 hours of Call of Cthulhu ready for download. Don’t forget to comment on the episodes or post about them in our forums if you enjoy them.

As you might have realized, it’s been a while since we’ve done an episode. I’ve had to move, get the Goblin Hulk PDF out and set up the new podcast feed. Fortunately, the Goblin Hulk has already gotten some good reviews, so if you haven’t, be sure to check it out. But all is now well so we can go back to the basics: gaming advice, shout outs and Tom bitching about the announcer voice. In this episode, we focus on improving a game by talking about NPCs who aren’t enemies or quest-givers. Many GMs forget to include this type of NPC, thinking of only the bare essentials in their game, but a great game needs NPCs who just do their own thing. I also go over some game design advice as described by Jordan Mechner which relates to the discussion. We also have several anecdotes, a rant about the POS movie 2012 and more!

Shout outs:

Creature Feature: The Greatest Show Unearthed – horror rock music that Tom approves of.
Eisenhorn: A Warhammer 40k sci-fi action pulp novel trilogy. Very slick, bad-ass fiction.
E-collapse: A new superhero RPG put out by Greg Stolze. Postmodern ideologies and super-science.
Hobocon: If you are curious about Gencon, check this documentary about it. Interesting but flawed.
Time Travel T-shirt: A very useful t-shirt.
L4D2: The bestest vidya game ever. My Xbox Live gamertag is Clockworkjoe13
The Room: The bestest movie ever. WATCH IT.
Black Dynamite: The most super-bad outta sight movie ever.

Music: The Quest by David Cyr
Promo: Swing and A Miss Podcast.

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 37: Set the Pace

Ross — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:23:18 +0000

Pacing is vital to form of storytelling, yet it seems to be overlooked in role playing games. After running a dozen games at Gencon and Dragoncon this year, I realized how important a proper pace is for a RPG. Tom and I discuss the importance of pacing, how to improve pacing in a game and what kind of mistakes a GM should avoid when running a game. Plus, a new letter from Tom, anecdotes and a favorite forum thread.

If you’re a fan of RPPR’s Actual Plays, please consider donating to the AP Feed ransom.

Please note that the Goblin Hulk is being delayed but it will come out. Check out a preview of the cover in this RPPR forums thread. Also check out the best question ever asked in our forums.

Shout-Outs

Alpha-Omega: The Encountered – crazy post-apocalyptic monsters. Great art and plenty of adventure fodder for sci-fi and horror games.
The Devil’s Tomb: a bad horror movie, a shameful path. Also: Henry Rollins.
Kerberos Club and This Favored Land – Awesome historical superhero campaign settings for Wild Talents but enough material for use with any superhero games.
Dead Man’s Shoes: UK thriller about a former SAS soldier terrorizing small town drug dealers. Fairly grim.
Shark Tank: A reality TV show about haggling and bargaining. Watch it to better roleplay your next negotiation scene.
Hoarders: This is the true face of insanity. Tragic, creepy and horrifying

Music: War Against the Robots by Ben Base.

RPPR Episode 33: Sightseeing Tours

RPPR Episode 36: Gencon 2009 Wrapup

Ross — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:56:07 +0000

We’re back from Gencon and we’ve gathered our thoughts. It was an exhausting, exhilarating and expensive four days but well worth it. We cover everything from the trip to Indy, hotels, to the actual games we played or ran and our purchases. Tom tried out a few official games while I ran seven games, including an after hours Call of Cthulhu game. Of course the big news is that we played in a 2 part, 12 hour WW1 CoC scenario run by Adam Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing. It was suitably epic. On top of that, we have some tips for all you con-goers including a few of my hints on running games at a con.

Shout-Outs

Eclipse Phase: Transhumanist Sci-Fi Horror Rpg. Very awesome, very pretty and well worth a look.
Mecha & Manga: Mutants and Masterminds Animu setting book. If you want school girl ninjas and giant robots in M&M, try this.
Shotgun Diaries: John Wick’s zombie survival horror rules-lite rpg. No link because there’s no website for the game.
Shard: High-concept fantasy furry rpg.
Zombie Cinema: A story game about zombies, sold in a VHS box. Very cool.
Hills Rise Wild: Pagan Publishing’s Cthulhu Mythos board game.
Mysteries of Mesoamerica: A Call of Cthulhu 1920s sourcebook for central america and has 4 scenarios.
Hobocon: A documentary about some gamers trying to survive Gencon with no cash and no plan.
Dragon Magazine Annual 2009: A collection of some of WOTC’s best stuff from Dragon magazine. Great material on kobolds and more
Grim Wars: A new setting for Wild Talents written by Greg Stolze and Ken Hite.
Damnation City: A nWoD sourcebook for cities – building your own, pulling the strings and so on.
America the Audiobook: Hilarious audiobook from the Daily Show.
I’m America and So Can You: Another funny audiobook, this one from Stephen Colbert.

Music: Untitled song from Click Clack Kaboom.

RPPR Episode 35: Gencon 2009 Preview

Ross — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:20:42 +0000

Donate to the RPPR Ransom, The Goblin Hulk, a 4E D&D Dungeon usable in any campaign!

Tom, Aaron and I discuss our plans for this year’s Gencon and RPPR’s third time there. But before we get into that, I discuss the werestorm, one of the more baffling features of the World of Synnibarr. Tom’s going to play in several games and I’m running 6 games for Arc Dreams. Even Aaron is going to play in a few games, including some fancy Battletech Pods. Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing might even let us playtest some new WW1 Call of Cthulhu scenarios.

Favorite Forum Threads:
Need a little help with an Item creation – neat items for any fantasy game
Anecdote: One-Upping Tom’s Gun-Rape story – it is quite horrific and not safe for work
GURPS combat explained – it makes GURPS combat sound fun!
Tom’s Call of Cthulhu WW2 actual play

Shout-outs
Last of the Living: Zombies in New Zealand. Hell Yeah.
Ghostbusters the game.It’s fun, I guess?
Survival City: Cold War Archeology, nuclear bunkers, missile silos and all that cool atomic era architecture.
Blackest Night: I don’t even know.
Hell’s Highway: A documentary about highway safety films, the first ultraviolent gore films.
Dreamquest to Unknown Kadath the graphic novel: Lovecraft’s fantasy epic as a funnybook.
Maptools: This is the most awesome virtual tabletop ever and I will learn how to use it.

Music: The Geeks Come out At Night by Devo Spice

RPPR Episode 34: Break It Up

Ross — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:09:21 +0000

Conflict is the heart of drama, yet that doesn’t mean it’s always welcome in a role playing game, especially when it is between players. So when a debate becomes an argument or when tempers rise, what should you do? Tom and I discuss how to deal with various meta-player conflicts, as a GM and as a player. Instead of a letter, Tom reviews an animated movie The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.

The second New World Campaign Ransom is up! Check out the Fundable for The Goblin Hulk, a module suitable for level 1, 6 or 12 characters. New Monsters, templates and more.

No forum threads this time, because we both forgot. However, I did create a Synnibarr character for you to hear about, Tetsuo the Wereman Ninja! Oh and some anecdotes.

Shout-Outs

The Room + Rifftrax – the greatest movie ever made plus the best commentary ever recorded.
Field Notes: Neat notebooks for all you notebook nerds out there.
Prototype: Become the monster you always wanted to be.
A Scary Solstice: Lovecraftian Christmas Carols.
Twitch of the Def Nerve: A badass mashup of exploitation movies and hip-hop.
Nostalgia Critic: Some reviewing website or something.
Transformers 2 Review: The Best Review. Of Anything. Ever.

Music: Break it up by the Cyanide Pills

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 33: Sightseeing Tours

Ross — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:26:00 +0000

Taking a tour in an established setting like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings can be a highlight of your gaming experience or the vacation from hell. Crossing lightsabers with Vader, flying with the crew of the Serenity or taking down a Terminator with pipe bombs and Mack trucks is the stuff of gaming legend. But on the other hand, being smacked down by Drizzt, begging Elminister for help or watching Harry Potter save the day (again) is slightly worse than being dragged naked across broken glass. We discuss how to run fun games with established settings, including settings that lack published gaming sourcebooks. Plus, a new letter from Tom, a listener anecdotes and a new segment-The World of Synnibar Character Creation Spotlight!

RPPR Forums Highlights

Rehabilitating the Bad GM (and why I now hate KOTOR)
Project 15
CREEPY THREAD OF DOOM

Shout Outs

Me of Little Faith – new book from Lewis Black
The World of Synnibarr -The Ultimate in Transgenre Gaming!
Battle Dragons – a rpg of dragons that battle
Freeman’s Mind - now we know why Gordon never talked in the games

Music: Tourist Trap by the White Rabbits

RPPR Episode 25: Save vs. Warm Fuzzies

RPPR Episode 32: Show and Tell – Maps and Minis

Ross — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:38:34 +0000

Inspired by our recent 4th edition D&D campaign, Tom and I discuss the usage of maps, miniatures and other props and gimmicks in tabletop games. While some games like Dungeons and Dragons nessecitate at least using some of these add-ons and others like Call of Cthulhu practically drown players in handouts, so where should you draw the line? How much is too much and when do they take away from the game instead of enhancing it? We also talk about our Gencon 09 plans and the New World Primer. Funny thing, we record this episode before the primer came out. Instead of a letter, Tom reads some stuff written by his friend Andy and we have the most insane anecdote ever…The Chaplin Incident as related to us by Adam Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing.

Favorite RPPR Forums Threads:

Shout Outs

M-51 Engineer’s Bag - a neat bag suitable for hauling gaming materials like maps and minis
Henry Rollins Show: Season One – Tom wuvs Henry Rollins.
The Burrowers - a twisted western horror movie that asks the question: what’s worse – man eating predatory monsters or us?
Black Adder Complete Collector’s Set – Nerd out to great brit comedy about war, politics and history.
Splinter - another new and freaky horror movie with a horrific and original monster besieging 4 trapped survivors.
Level Up Magazine - 4E gaming goodness for only 2 bucks an issue.

Music GooTube Conspiracy by Nalts

No related posts.

RPPR Episode 31: Be A Team Player

Ross — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:43:47 +0000

In this episode, Tom and I more or less interview each other about our habits as players. Find out what can truly surprise Tom in a game or what my favorite character type is. If you want to get an idea of how to improve your game, think about how you play, what works and what doesn’t work. Also, to make up for the recent lack of content, we’ve made this episode nearly 90 minutes long. Tom has an improvised Letter, plus two new anecdotes and more.

Our favorite RPPR forums threads:

One of Tom’s characters comes to life: Oh the humanity!
A Tribute to Sir Redgar Orphanbane: Find out more about the origins of the NPC adventurer from the New World Campaign
The Cody Fan Club: We have some dedicated fans…
Omegle – For All your random chat trolling: Talk to random strangers on the Internet? Why nothing could possibly go wrong!

Shout Outs

Kenzer Company: Congratulations on issue 150 of Knights of the Dinner Table!
T-Rex Cafe: A dinosaur themed restaurant in Kansas City.
Dungeon Crawl: I’ve mentioned it before, but the new version is even better. And more addicting if that’s possible.
A Wee Bit of Revolution: Craig Ferguson stand up comedy. It’s funny.
Rifftrax: The new Twilight Rifftrax is hysterical. You must watch it.
Zombietown USA: Zombies in small town America. Also dual statted for Autoduel!
Fans, Friends and Follwers: A great book with advice on how to use the Internet to build a creative career.
Friday Night Firefight: Cyberpunk combat system. No pansy roleplaying. Just hardcore 80s style combat rules.

Music: There is no I in team but there is a me by Western Civ.

RPPR Episode 30: Min-Max Pain

Ross — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:03:02 +0000

The worst pain you can feel when running a game comes from min/maxing players, the jerks who love nothing more to make unstoppable killing machines that defy the laws of man, god, common sense, physics and the damn game itself. So, how do you deal with these min/maxers? We provide a few ways to dish out the pain or rather ways to sensibly negotiate and make reasonable compromises with the player…in hell.Tom has a slightly less disturbing letter this time and of course the New World ransom is still underway! Please contribute. There’s only 10 days left.

The New World 4E D&D Campaign Primer Ransom

Shout outs:

Gun Show: A new daily comic by KC Green
Xombie: An animated zombie action horror DVD
The Objective: Horror movie about special forces in Afghanistan investigating a mysterious region. Great fodder for modern horror rpgs.
Bad For You: A George Carlin comedy special
Van Richten’s Guide to the Lich: Great Ravenloft supplement describing the lich. Useful for any edition of D&D as it is mostly flavor text.
Found Footage Festival: Hilarious and insane compilations of public access shows, commercials, exercise videos and more.

Favorite Forum Threads: Some highlights from the RPPR forums

Tom in the DBZ game: A discussion about Tom’s letter in the last episode.
Introduction: Meet some of the RPPR fans and introduce yourself to the forums.
A study in the logic of gaming: Player logic is quite funny to say the least.

Music: WW Z by CSHC

RPPR Episode 29: Time of Judgment

Ross — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 04:50:58 +0000

The time of judgment is upon us. Tom and I judge a few games, a D&D mockumentary and several bad GM habits. The Assemblage of the Crystal Sphere is a indie comedy about a RPG group about to complete a 5 year campaign. Tom looks at Cthulhutech, a game of animu giant robots fighting monsters from the cthulhu mythos in the future! I talk about Paranoia XP, the newest version of the classic sci fi comedy RPG, where happiness is mandatory and commie mutant traitors lurk around every corner. We then judge a few bad GM habits, namely wasting the players’ time and hyper-adversarial GMing. Of course, there’s a new (horribly offensive) letter from Tom and a listener anecdote.

The New World Campaign Primer Ransom: For fans of the New World 4E D&D campaign, I’m starting up a ransom for the New World Campaign Primer. If the ransom is met, I will write it up and release it as a freely available PDF. Check out the page for more info on what will be contained in the Primer.

Motor Home from Hell: Buy a copy of my feature length horror comedy movie, Motor Home from Hell for only $12.50. Select Podcast Fan option when purchasing for an autographed RPPR postcard with a unique message from Tom and I or Mystery Grab Bag for an assortment of random goodies.

Shout outs:

Mount and Blade: A badass indie computer RPG. Archers. Mercenary swordsmen and calvary. Pillage the village and besiege the castles. That’s how you roll in Mount and Blade.
Silent Hunter 4: A submarine simulator that involves trigonometry. That’s a sure sign of FUN!
Red Rock West: A western noir movie with Dennis Hopper as a hitman with low self esteem and Nicholas Cage as a drifter looking for work. But don’t worry, Cage actually acts well! Worth a watch.

Also I have judged the old forums to be inadequate so I have created new forums. Check out these threads:

Watchmen Inspired Campaign: Some material I wrote up for a dark 1980s mutants and masterminds game.
Post the best fight and/or death scenes you can find: Awesomeness contained within.
Unusual Items in Games: Weird magic items suitable for any fantasy or horror game.
Recruitment thread – Law & Orcdom Special Villager Unit – Risus: A play by post game I am starting up.
Dark Heresy Play by Post: A recruitment thread for a WH40k Play by Post game.

Music: The Judgment by David Cyr.

RPPR Episode 28: Great. Expectations.

Ross — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:00:54 +0000

Synopsis: Every gamer has their own expectations at the gaming table. Most of the time, everyone has similar enough expectations that they can all enjoy the same game but this isn’t always the case. How do you deal with people who seem to have mutually exclusive expectations of a RPG? Ultra realism or cinematic action? High fantasy or hard sci fi? We discuss how to collaborate and compromise so that the game can reach a suitable middle ground. We discuss the five hot spots where expectations are frequently violated: genre, style, violence level, maturity level and consistency in the game. Plus, a letter from Tom to Splynncryth the alien intelligence from Rifts, anecdotes and shout outs:

Shout outs:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The classic regency romance novel, with new scenes of zombie mayhem. Can Mr. Darcy find love in a zombie apocalypse?
Root of All Evil: A Lewis Black Comedy Central series about pop culture and evil.
Armored Trains: A book about the use of armored trains in war, especially WW1 and WW2, with lots of great pictures. What’s not to like?
Look Around You: A BBC parody of educational TV. The Water and Sulfur episodes are hilarious.
Lovecraft is Missing: A horror/pulp webcomic about H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

Music: Wagering Lights by Venn & Euler.

RPPR Episode 27: Grand Theft Apparatus of Kwalish

Ross — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:30:32 +0000

Synopsis: Open-ended or Sandbox games can be extremely fun but it requires a lot of work on the part of both the GM and the players. Our friends over at the Bearswarm recorded an episode about sandbox games recently but we thought we would give it a shot (and neither of us has listened to it yet). Also, we have four anecdotes in this episode, including the legend of the nautical druid – written by a player from a D&D game I ran a few years back. Don’t miss it!

Shout Outs:

Midnight Meat Train: A crazy horror movie based on a Clive Barker story directed by a Japanese guy. Starring Vinnie Jones as a killer.
Survive Style 5: A Japanese movie featuring Vinnie Jones as a hitman. It’s sureal and awesome.
Fall of Cthulhu: A cthulhu mythos type godwar comic book. Fun stuff. Cthulhu vs Nodens vs Nyarlathotep.
Asian Horror Movies: A website featuring Asian horror movies for free – streaming online. I recommend Noroi.
Open Grave: A great new WOTC 4E D&D book about the undead.
In Search of Adventure: I wrote one of the adventures, a Lovecraftian dungeon crawl using 4E rules.

Music: Giant Enemy Crab remix

RPPR Episode 23: Halloween Tricks and Treats

RPPR Episode 26: Going Postal – Mailbag Madness

Ross — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:26:09 +0000

We’ve received a lot of messages from listeners so we thought we discuss a few of them. This show covers a lot of topics, from our personal favorite RPGs, the indie RPG Dread, to dealing with out of control house rules and other issues. We also got our first donation, so if you like the show, help us pay for the hosting and Gencon this year. Plus Tom has some gaming New Year’s Resolutions in his letter and of course shout outs and an anecdote.

Shout outs:

221 Films and The Assemblage of the Crystal Sphere: A D&D Story: A mockumentary about the culmination of a 5 year D&D campaign, in a very wry manner. We will have a full review in the next episod.
Wild Country: A Scottish werewolf movie. It has gore and nearly indecipherable Scottish brogue.
Crossover Comic Archives: As listener Tadonari Oyama writes “A very silly sprite comic series” If you want to read comics where Chun Li teams up Sonic the Hedgehog to fight illiteracy and mutant badgers.
Poultrygeist: A Troma movie about chicken spirits, Indian burial grounds and zombies. Also, blood and gore.
Saving Stone: A prequel to the hilarious novel, Game Night and it’s a free pdf to boot! Read it already.
Spelunky: A roguelike platformer with randomly generated levels. Get the treasure before you die a horrible death.

Music: Mailing it in by Allied Radio

RPPR Episode 12: Everything Old is New Again

RPPR Episode 25: Save vs. Warm Fuzzies

Ross — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:02:17 +0000

Synopsis: Because of the holidays, we’ve decided to take a look at the most neglected of subjects in gaming: happiness and joy. Given that the average RPG is a angst ridden world of grim and gritty darkness populated by hideous monsters and slightly less monstrous player characters where the typical encounter is a savage bloodsoaked battle to the death, what place does happiness or optimism have? Using examples from our own games, we talk about how adding even a lone bright spot in a game can add great value and provide awesome emotional payoffs for the players.

Shout Outs:

The Adventure of Lucky Pip and the Incomparable Ithamar Conchie: a $1 game of storytelling and fortune cookies.
Left 4 Dead: I like zombies. They are kawaii :3
The Majesty of Colors: A brilliant little flash game about a giant sea monster.
Night of the Cephalopods! An awesome and free PC game about evil octopi and procedural Lovecraftian narration.

RPPR Episode 24: GO GO GO! and other Action Movie Cliches

Ross — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:48:05 +0000

When we role play, we almost always imagine an action scene, whether it’s kicking down dungeon doors and slitting the throats of whatever lies beyond them or kicking open vampire coffins and staking whatever lies inside them or kicking down giant metal doors with giant robot legs and stomping whatever lies beyond them. So no matter what genre you prefer, action is part of it. But how do you run a great scene or fight or base an entire scenario or campaign in an action adventure genre? Of course there’s also a letter from Tom, an anecdote from our listener Captain Scraps and some shout outs:

Fallout 3: A most worthy post apocalypse interactive saga. Play the damn game already.
The Something Awful Traditional Games Discussion Forum: lotsa good discussions here.
Punisher vidya game: Punisher shoots bad guys. Virtually!
Shauncon: We went there. It was neat.

Music: Various by The Inkspots courtesy of Archive.org. These are public domain. Horray!

RPPR Episode 23: Halloween Tricks and Treats

Ross — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:17:18 +0000

Horror deserves more than one episode, so we’re going to keep talking about it. We cover everything from foreshadowing scares to some of the best and worst horror games we’ve been in. If you want to improve on terrifying players, grab from our bag of tricks and treats.

Music: More number stations from the Conet Project

Shout outs:
Dead Space: Insanely freaky 360 game
Fatal Frame 1: Another freaky survival horror video game
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
Book of Unremitting Horror

RPPR Episode 22: Get Your Fear On

Ross — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:36:41 +0000

Running a horror game is a tricky business. The GM has to hit the perfect tone, set the perfect mood and run a truly scary game in order to terrify players. But it can be done. With Halloween approaching, we’ve decided to share some tips on running horror games, from basic advice on timing, storytelling and writing horror scenarios to advanced material like using theatrical techniques and props in a game. Tom has a new letter, anecdotes and of course some

Shout Outs:

Supernatural Horror in Literature by H.P. Lovecraft
Danse Macabreby Stephen King
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
In the Mouth of Madness
Feast 1 and Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds

Music: The Conet Project Listen to it online.

RPPR Episode 21: So You Want to Create a Campaign

Ross — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:53:19 +0000

Most games start as an idea in the GM’s head. However, it takes some work to go from idea to having a full campaign ready to run. Tom and I discuss the process of creating a campaign and our experiences in creating and running them. If you want to make a game that lasts more than a few sessions, you should give our advice a try. Plus, a very personal letter from Tom, in which he admits that he’s a cheating bastard, shout outs and new anecdotes!

Shout Outs:

Day by Day Armageddon: If you write a zombie apocalypse novel do NOT do what this novel did. It’s just terrible. So very very terrible.
Mutant Chronicles: A movie based on the RPG, Mutant Chronicles. And it’s so horrible that words can’t adequately describe how horrible it is.
Bigger Faster Stronger: A documentary about power gamers in real life, steroid users. An excellent look into the mindset of the athletes and gym rats who use it and the culture that condones winning at all costs.
House of Leaves: This is a crazy book. I’m not done with it but it is worth reading.

Music: Write My Story by Air 5.
Promo: RPG Life.

RPPR Episode 13: The Awesome Action Packed Alliterative Adventure

RPPR Episode 20: Random Character Advice Generator

Ross — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:24:26 +0000

Character creation is the glue of role playing games. A game can’t be that good unless everyone has a player character suitable for the game. A crazed psychopath slasher appropriate for a Bunnies and Burrows campaign while a cute talking bunny isn’t going to last long in a call of cthulhu game. In this episode, Tom, special guest Cody Walker and I talk about the best and the worst player characters we’ve encountered both as players and when running a game. No letter from Tom, but there’s a good ass anecdote.

Hosted by Ross Payton, Tom Church and Cody Walker.

Music: Into the Night by Time Warrior

Shout Outs:
Grant Morrison: The chaos magician comic book writer has a new website.
Gumshoe: A new RPG system by Robin Laws. Perfect for investigation games.
Wild cards: Mutants and Masterminds supplement.
Aaron Sorkin: Go bitch at him about Facebook or something.

RPPR Episode 06: The Bad Player