RPPR Episode 89: Scenari-NO
News: Base Raiders is in layout! Hooray! Raillery is on hiatus until Base Raiders is complete. Boo!
Synopsis: Tom and I once again dive into the “Pile of Broken Dreams“to look at two old modules, Zombietown USA for GURPS and All Fall Down for Cyberpunk. Adventure design was quite different back then. For example, a brutal dungeon crawl was apparently required for every scenario, regardless of genre. Railroading was very popular as well. Regardless, there are useful elements from each scenario. Also, Tom does not care for the needless inclusion of Autoduel stats for a horror scenario. Oh and Tom has a letter too. Plus, shout outs and anecdotes!
Shout Outs
- Channel A: A truly fun game for anime fans AND haters. Listen to our special Actual Play!
- Fate Core: The new edition of the Fate RPG system and it comes in a handsome book.
- Boss Monster: A new 8-bit video game inspired card game. Kill the heroes before the other monsters do.
- Nazi Occult: A fictional recounting of the Nazi’s experiments with the occult. Werewolves and djinn, oh my!
- The Curse: A modern retelling of the Colour out of Space.
- VHS 2: The third segment is creepy as hell. I enjoyed the second segment. The first and fourth ones…eehhhhhhhh.
Song: Zombietown by the Midnight Peacocks
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:45 — 63.7MB)
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RPPR Episode 88: Heroes of New Arcadia Post Mortem Round Table Discussion
News: Just to clarify something about RPPR B-Sides: each volume will be released for free after a 1 year delay. Volume 1 will be released to the public on August 14, 2014. If you want to listen to the 20 AP episodes contained in Volume 1, then you can donate $20 to RPPR. Simple as that!
I also want to give a shout out to comic artist David Faught for his contributions to Base Raiders, which is now in layout.
Also, Hebanon Games is now blogging about game design and RPGs on a regular basis.
Synopsis: The Heroes of New Arcadia campaign is now concluded. In 29 episodes, a ragtag group of self-made superheroes saved the world and ultimately determined its fate. Find out how the concept came to be and what the players thought about it – highlights of the games, surprises, and more. No shout outs or anecdotes this episode because our discussion went long.
Song: We Heroes by Within the Giants
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:44 — 67.8MB)
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RPPR Episode 87: Fantasy with a Horror Chaser
News: Actual Play fans can rejoice! RPPR B-Sides provides early access to archived and unaired AP episodes that will NEVER make the AP podcast. Check out RPPR B-Sides to learn more. In other news, we’ve redesigned Role Playing Public Radio and will eventually get to RPPR Actual Play. The design is not 100% final, so there may be tweaks here and there.
Also, Base Raiders is still in production.
Finally, the Know Evil Fan Creation Contest ended, so check out this post on the RPPR forums to see who won! We would like to thank everyone who entered but we only had 5 posters to give away.
Synopsis: Mixing genres in games (like fantasy and horror) can be fun but it can also turn your game into a mess. Tom and I discuss how we approach genre mashups and what kind of pitfalls we have learned to avoid. Tom provides examples of his own campaigns and I pontificate like the published author (and horrible monster) that I am. You know, the usual stuff we do for episodes.
Instead of a letter, I give an extended review of Grimoires, an excellent history of books of magic and how real life books of magic can be great game fodder for many kinds of role playing games. As an example, check out the Sixth and Seventh Book of Moses. It’s a public domain grimoire so feel free to use parts of it as a handout for your next horror game or whatever.
Finally we have shout outs and an anecdote, as always!
Shout Outs:
- Grimoires: As stated above, it’s a great book.
- Cities XL: a computer game about building a city that actually works. Crazy, right?
- Attack on Titan: Horrific manga and anime series about man eating giants and crazy steampunk soldiers who fight them.
- Tomorrow’s Harvest: Like creepy ambient music? Boards of Canada has got your back with their new album. Check out the music video for Reach for the Dead.
- Let’s Play Deadly Premonition: A cult classic 360 video game covered by an excellent LP of a 100% run.
Song: Creepy Doll by Jonathan Coulton
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:28:10 — 60.6MB)
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