RPPR Episode 73: The Complexity Complex
News: No Security, a horror scenario anthology set in the American Great Depression, written by RPPR regular Caleb Stokes, is up on Kickstarter. If you enjoyed Bryson Springs or Lover in the Ice, consider contributing to it.
Synopsis: My recent trip to China got me thinking about complexity. RPGs are often very reductive, very simple worlds, but adding a bit of complexity to a game can greatly enhance it. Of course too much complexity can be awful especially in the wrong areas, but tweaking a specific aspect like a setting detail or a single game mechanic can make an average game into a great one. I also reveal my idea for a new Iron Heroes campaign, plus a letter from Tom, shout outs and an anecdote:
Shout outs
- Liminal States: A genre-bending novel of immortality and Lovecraftian horrors and highly recommended by Caleb.
- China Road: A journalist travels across China, seeing the highs and lows of the country.
- The Weird: A massive anthology of weird fiction from around the world. Over 1000 pages of weirdness!
- Black Books: A hilarious sitcom starring Dylan Moran.
- Book of Cthulhu: A great anthology of Cthulhu mythos fiction.
- Nyarko-San: An insane anime recommended to us by several RPPR listeners. A very unique view of the mythos to say the least.
- Stealth of Nations: A study of the world’s global informal economy. Great fodder for dystopian and post-apocalyptic games.
- A Corpse in the Koryo: A brilliant detective/thriller novel about a police inspector in North Korea caught up the machinations of competing security agencies.
- Wool: A highly reviewed and recommended sci-fi ebook novella. Only 99 cents!
Music: Beautiful Lies by B-Complex
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:02 — 63.2MB)
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RPPR Presents: The Otyugh Sketch
Selling monsters door to door is hard work. Loosely inspired by an incident from the RPPR D&D campaign, The New World. This skit was entirely improvised. Special thanks to Nathan Shelton and Kevin Keppy for helping out!
Listen to the original ‘who wants to buy an Otyugh’ https://slangdesign.com/rppr/RPPR-Otyughs.mp3
I will be out of town for the next few weeks. I’ll be blogging about my trip to China at slangdesign.com. I’ll post photos, videos and observations about my experiences overseas.
RPPR Episode 72: It’s a Dark Dark Dark Dark World
RPPR News: The first RPPR video is now online. Check it out!
RPPR friend, Pagan Publishing has a Kickstarter going on. Take a look at it.
Synopsis: The World of Darkness is a massive family of role playing games spanning from 1991 to today. We invite Jason and Aaron, both regulars from the RPPR AP podcast, to discuss the wide range of horror games. As we are more familiar with the old World of Darkness than the new, we spend more time discussing that the new World of Darkness but neither side is neglected. We also discuss how to jump in the World of Darkness, common pitfalls for running games in this universe and some of our favorite books or settings for it. Oh and of course, the metaplot. Tom also has a letter, and we have shout outs and a horror related anecdote from a listener email.
Shout outs:
- Drifter Broken Road: A post-apocalyptic Western. Shoot outs in the ruins of a bombed out world.
- Kindred the Embraced: An ill-fated television show based on the role playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade.
- Destroyer: A horror movie starring Anthony Perkins.
- Feed: A dystopian sci-fi novel about inserting the Internet in your head. Kind of.
- Rochard: A fun 2d platformer/puzzle video game on Steam with a great soundtrack.
- The Sixth Gun: A horror/western comic created by Cullen Bunn. Great fodder for RPGs!
- Danger 5: A hilariously insane Australian comedy show about fighting Nazis, being sexist and drinking too much.
- Community: A funny sitcom that had a D&D based episode.
- Amnesia: Dark Descent – a scary as fuck video game.
- Horror Recognition Guide: Great fiction set in the new World of Darkness.
- Reincarnation: A flash game that Tom likes.
Song: Darkness be thy Name by Midnight Configuration
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:46:48 — 73.4MB)
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