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Music by The Old Ones – a Lovecraftian inspired metal band. Brutal!
Intro song: Alone in the Mountains
Segue for Letter from Tom: Rise!
Ending music: Spirits

Hosted by Ross Payton, Tom Church and Dan McDowell

Synopsis: Rules, the foundation of our hobby. How many rules are enough? When do you follow them and when do you ignore them? We go over our philosophy for rules interpretation in role playing and offer strategies to make your game better, such as dealing with a new player not used to gaming. Find out when to fudge the rules and when to let the dice roll where they may. This is a rich topic that we’ve barely begun so if you have any thoughts on what the role of rules is in your game, let us know.

If you like RPPR, please review us on the Itunes Podcast Directory! It’s like gaining experience for a podcast and just as addictive. Or if you’re a Chinese listener, Ni Hao! We’d like to hear from you.

Shout outs: Blackbird Dreaming is an excellent play by post GURPS 4e post apocalyptic game. It’s almost like reading a collaborative novel online.

Project Twilight is a great Old World of Darkness sourcebook for running government investigators in a modern horror game. A treasure trove of ideas for your modern horror game and usually pretty cheap too.

Ptolus is one of the best, if not THE best, 3.5 D&D settings ever written. Immensely detailed and well crafted, it is the ultimate city campaign. Quite expensive but the worth the price if you can find a copy.

Film Spotting is an awesome film review podcast. If you want to hear about the latest films, give it a listen.

And finally, Shoot ‘Em Up is a bland action movie that pretends to be clever and funny, but fails at both. Tom likes it but I write the episode summaries, so how do you like them apples?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:44 — 42.9MB)

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Hosted by Ross Payton and Tom Church
Ending music: Warning Forever by Sabrepulse

Synopsis: Eventually every gamer encounters an adult theme in gaming. However, it can be hard to handle these topics, given the lack of maturity in many gamers. We discuss past games with mature themes, how to run a game with these topics and what to avoid. If you’ve ever wondered how to make your game more dramatic and realistic, give this an episode a listen. And as always, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

On another note, we here at RPPR had a good holiday. Tom got some kewl loot for Christmas and Ross got some writing done. Check out his article in Knights of the Dinner Table #134, a Gamemaster’s Workshop essay on incorporating a new player into an existing group. Plus, a letter from Tom to a classic D&D monster, the mind flayer and a gaming anecdote.

Shout Outs: Horribleville, a very funny webcomic from KC Green, Tyrants of the Nine Hells and Alien loves Predator.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:32 — 32.3MB)

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A round table discussion with Ross Payton, Tom Church, Cody Walker and Samantha Harrel.

Synopsis: Every gamer has been touched by a very special kind of player. The bad player wrecks campaigns, breaks up relationships and causes madness with their inept munchkinism, selfish attitude, and infuriating personal habits. Two guests, Sam and Cody, join us to discuss one such player, Jessica. Her paladin character refused to fight evil and her villainous character refused to be evil. Even her attempts at roleplaying wound up with her creating a Witchblade knockoff superhero with Indiana Jones as her father. Find out how the other members dealt with her. Learn from their mistakes so you can be prepared for the next bad player you meet.

Tom reads a letter to the average Call of Cthulhu player character and a few shoutouts. First, Jonathan Coulton is a great singer/songwriter who has made his music available under a creative commons license. We’ve included one of his songs, Skullcrusher Mountain, at the end. Give it a listen. Tom has a shout out for the one and only George Carlin. Finally, Cody thinks everyone needs to check out 8-bit theater, a great fantasy comedy web comic.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:47 — 31.9MB)

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