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!

Caleb and I discuss the possibility of creating a second edition of Red Markets and Base Raiders. It’s a major task, so examining the pros and cons is a necessary first step. Updating the mechanics, revising the lore, and improving the information design are all big challenges, not to mention the logistics of getting a game funded by crowdfunding.

Check out Hebanon Games to see Caleb’s latest game design work.

News: I started a new bonus podcast on the RPPR Patreon. Recommendizer is focused on media recommendations. In episode zero, we talk about two new horror video games, Signalis and Scorn and some underwater horror movies.

Song: Dotlights – Come In And Stay on Chillhop Essentials Winter 2022

A cluster of enclaves in Missouri faces annihilation at the hands of a massive horde of the undead. Their only hope is to prepare for war, a job for their preeminent taker crew, the D4s. The crew uses an armored vehicle to take the largest scores of valuable goods they can find, no matter what gets in their way, whether it’s undead, human, or mother nature. In this episode, Jason B, Aaron, Maddy, David, and I talk about this campaign. How did Jason get the idea for it, how it was run, what we liked and what we would have changed, if anything.

If you missed the campaign, here’s a page with links to all of the episodes.

Music: The Dead Walk by John Carpenter