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News: I’ve redesigned Raillery as a Video Game Actual Play podcast/Youtube channel. Check out our new videos! In Base Raiders news, the Pariah ebook has been released to Kickstarter backers. It will be made available on Amazon and Smashwords in the near future for people that missed the Kickstarter.

RPPR is pleased to announce a Know Evil Fan Creation Contest! Between now and the end of the Know Evil Eclipse Phase campaign on RPPR Actual Play, any fan that submits a bit of fan art or fan fiction will be entered into a contest to win a Know Evil poster, signed by Caleb, Ross and other RPPR regulars!  Read this thread on the RPPR forums for more details.

Synopsis: Player character back stories and motivations are a tricky subject in RPGs. Meta gaming motivations or creating inappropriate or useless back stories an hinder a game.  Tom is out of town, so Caleb, Aaron, and I discuss our thoughts on player motivations vs PC motivations and back stories in general. We also have shout outs and Caleb shares a special anecdote about the ‘Fun Factory’.

Shout outs

  • The Phantom of Wilson Creek: A RPPR listener, Max Writer on our forums, published this monograph through Chaosium. Congratulations!
  • Synnibarr Kickstarter: Yes, I backed it. I am a horrible monster.
  • Danger Club: Watch out olds, the sidekicks are kicking ass and taking names. A good comic.
  • FATE Core Kickstarter: FATE is a neat RPG system and the Kickstarter for it offers crazy good rewards. Check it out!
  • Hellboy in Hell: Pretty much what you would expect.
  • Saga: An epic fantasy comic about a young couple, their baby, and some crazy fantasy bullshit. Read it. It’s great!
  • Neocolonialism: Kickstarter for a new video game about global economics. The tagline says it all – Ruin Everything.
  • Title Builder: From the Doug Benson podcast.
  • Wrath of the Lamb: DLC for the Binding of Isaac.
  • AMV Hell 6: Animu is funny with silly music.
  • Rifftrax shorts: Find out what is more dangerous than dynamite.

Music: Looking at Black Clouds by Serphonic

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:05 — 58.5MB)

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Oh Rifts-chan, never change ^_^ News: Check out the newest Story Bundle! My book, Zombies of the World, is one of the bonus ebooks you can get if you pay the average of $8 or more. The bundle also features F. Paul Wilson and other great authors!

I also wrote up a detailed post-mortem of my recent Call of Cthulhu one shot based on the indie video game, Hotline Miami.

Synopsis: I asked Tom what he wanted to do an episode on and he chose the Palladium game system. So here we are. After going over our history with the system, we go over the game, from its mechanics to the setting of Rifts. It’s not pretty, but hopefully entertaining. Tom’s letter is about Rifts of course, and we have shout outs, a listener letter, and an anecdote.

Shout outs:

  • Story Bundle: Buy these ebooks! They make great Christmas gifts 😀
  • SSSSSSS: A 1970s horror movie about people being turned into giant snakes because of reasons.
  • The Drift: New SG-1 Stargate novel. Interesting plot, characterization, and excellent attention to detail.
  • A Monster in Paris: CGI animated film about a monster (in Paris).
  • Miskatonic River Press and Punktown Kickstarter: Get Lovecraftian games and fiction!
  • HP Lovecraft books Skyrim mod: Reading Lovecraft books in real life get you down? There’s got to be a better way!
  • Dead Pixels: A new indie game on Steam about shooting zombies, so you know I dig it.
  • Legend of Grimrock: Indie CRPG modeled after old school games like Eye of the Beholder. Clever puzzles and fun combat.

Song: Multidimensional Consciousness by the Flavor Foundation

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:43:34 — 71.1MB)

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News: Base Raiders, the new RPPR Kickstarter is nearing completion. Help us meet a few more stretch goals!  Contribute now!

Learn more at the Base Raiders website.

Synopsis: Combat is the heart and soul of many RPGs but running exciting combat is harder to pull of than it seems. It often descends into tedious “I hit you you” dice rolling contests or incoherent arguments over stunting and other combat rules. How do you balance those extremes? Tom and I discuss how we keep fights interesting in a game and what players can do their part.

Instead of a letter from Tom, we read two listener letters, plus shout outs and an anecdote!

Shout outs:

  • Hotline Miami: Brutal, fast-paced combat and great music. Game of the Year 2012!
  • The Curse and Curse 2: Crazy 1980s horror movies with good special effects
  • Miami Connection: The best movie of the 198s0. Cocaine ninjas and Dragon Sound!
  • Drive: Brilliant neo-noir thriller about a driver who makes some poor life decisions.
  • Kicking It: Want to run a successful Kickstarter? Monte Cook has some good advice.
  • Godzilla the Half Century War: a Godzilla story about the poor saps in the tanks shooting at Godzilla.
  • Invasive Procedures: You’ve listened to the actual play. Now run it for your group!
  • Zombie Cinema: Fun little storytelling game of player conflicts and zombies.

Music: Le Combat by David Cyr

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:39:13 — 68.2MB)

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