Role Playing Public Radio

What advice can educators provide for teaching game rules to players? How about using games to enhance education? And what about the portrayal of education in games? This panel covers it all and more. Caleb Stokes is an educator and RPG writer. He frequently uses games in the classroom for a variety of purposes, and he recently worked with Arc Dream to publish No Soul Left Behind, a campaign book for the game Better Angels set in a charter high school. Ross Payton has written extensively for Monsters and Other Childish Things, and he’s been teaching rules to players for twenty years. Steve Radabaugh is a high school teacher and creator of app games like Dungeon Marauders and the upcoming dice game Fey Ball. Dan from RPPR was also a panelist.

News: No Soul Left Behind is now available in print! Backers should get their copies soon. Also, Firewall will soon be out in print. Synopsis: Gen Con is over and what a time we had! Between the games we played, fans we met, and panels we ran or attended, all of us had a blast this year. In this special extra long episode, we discuss our most memorable experiences of the con, and of course, our loot. Hear from Caleb, Tom, Aaron, David, Dan, Bill, Melissa, Michelle, and myself as we go over the con! Shout Outs (wow so many very links) Eclectic Eccentricities: A neat shop of dice jewelery and other crafts. Michael Plondaya’s art blog: He made Red Markets fan art! Also, a great artist. Drunk and Ugly: They hung out with us and we were on some of their panels. Review Cultist’s Art: Gaze upon Lucille in all her glory! Feng Shui 2: Hong Kong style action movie gaming, now in print! Dreamhounds of Paris: The Surrealist movement meets Cthulhu. A winning combination! Cthulhu Apocalypse: 1930s post-apocalyptic Cthulhu survival horror. Superfight: A card game about arguing who would win a fight. Quite fun! Meow: M E O W. Bezier Games: Neat board and card games. David approved. Malleus Monstrorum: A compendium of Cthulhu monsters and gods. Shotguns vs. Cthulhu: An anthology of stories about fighting the mythos, presumably with shotguns. Geek Therapy: Therapy by and for geeks. Baby Bestiary: Super kawaii monsters – who could kill a baby owlbear? Snake Oil: a fun card game about salesmanship and creativity. The Cartel: An Apocalypse World powered game about powerful drug cartels. At the Hands of an Angry God: A game about building a Utopia. Cthulhu Dark Ages, Second Edition: A new edition for 7th edition Call of Cthulhu! No store page for it yet though. Noble Treachery: A card game about becoming king by screwing over the other nobles. Night Witches: An Apocalypse World powered game about female pilots in the Russian military during World War 2. Misspent Youth: A RPG about fighting the MAN as an angry teenager. Q Workshop: Cool dice maker. Ashen Stars – Accretion Disk: A supplement for Ashen Stars with new gear and aliens. Gadget Guides: Get your gadgets for your Mutants and Masterminds game! Adorable Pandaring: Who has the cutest panda? Alpha Bandits: A word game about stuff. God so many licks to write up Wordariffic: A card game about picking words from random cards. Kettle of Fish, Accidental Cyclops, and Lurkers in the Valley: Cool LARP groups that put on great games! Pocket belts: Lack pockets? Get a belt of them! Lowlife: great counter-culture looking RPG with a unique setting. Skirmish Outbreak: A new miniature based skirmish game – survivors fighting zombies and each other. Music: The Mach Rider by the Encounter.

The RPPR crew is back from Gen Con and we have a lot of podcasts for you! Caleb and I gave six panels and we recorded them all. The first is a new Game Designer Workshop episode, where I talk about my progress in Ruin and Caleb discusses his new beta for Red Markets. RPPR: making mistakes in game design in real time, for your entertainment!

News: RPPR will be part of the Podcast-a-Ganza at Gen Con. The Boiling Point Conversion Guides are out and are available for download. Red Markets will soon have a beta available for playtesting. Synopsis: Another Gen Con is upon us and RPPR shall be there. This year, Caleb and I will be hosting a bunch of panels on topics ranging from game design to measuring fun in games. Aaron is running several games, and Tom wants to demo a bunch of new games at the exhibit hall. We also share tips about surviving the con, shout outs, and anecdotes from Call of Cthulhu and Red Markets. See you at Gen Con! RPPR Panels at Gen Con Aaron’s Games at Gen Con Dan’s Games at Gen Con Arc Dream events at Gen Con Shout Outs Adam Jury’s Gen Con advice: Executing at Gen Con and other Conventions How Buildings Learn: A great and free documentary about architecture, both high and vernacular. Board Game Warehouse: Buy their board games! Great deals on great games. Lords of the Storm Podcast: If you want to master Heroes of the Storm, then you need this podcast. Villainy: Be the super villain you were always meant to be. An Honest Liar: A documentary James Randi the magician and skeptic. El Chapo: A fascinating documentary from Frontline about the infamous cartel boss. Nihilist Arby’s: Arby’s doesn’t give a fuck. Eat at Arby’s. Song: It’s Supercharged by botnit

News: The Fan Creation page on RPPR Actual Play is online. The handouts for Boiling Point are available for download if you need to print them out. Red Markets is in alpha playtesting and you can help. Read this thread for more info. Synopsis: At a certain point, most gamers will start looking at places they visit or learn about and daydream about what kind of game could be set in that place. Caleb and I discuss how we look at spaces we learn about and incorporate them into games. From our regular haunts to places we only read about, there are many ways to look at interesting places and integrate them into a game. It happens in video games all the time – this picture shows the Freer Gallery of Art vs the Diamond Heist in Payday 2. Tom is not in this episode, so no letter, but we do have shout outs and anecdotes. Shout Outs What if: The XKCD guy answers a bunch of absurd questions with scientifically accurate answers. Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps: Mappa Mundi. Circumfluent. Wytches: A horror graphic novel with great art. Dream Catalogue Vaporwave Library: For all your vaporwave needs. Vaporwave: A Brief History – A mini documentary about a new genre in electronic music. How to Make Vaporwave: A hilarious counterpoint to vaporwave in general. Journey to the West: A Stephen Chow directed version of the Chinese classic tale. It’s totes cray. Cthulhu’s Vault: Storytelling game that uses cards. Interesting but needs more playtesting. Song: ?? by 2 8 1 4

This is yet another panel from Comicpalooza 2015 about world building in RPGs. It features Lenny Balsera, Ross Watson, Marshall Ryan Maresca, and Dave Martin. Enjoy!

This is another panel I recorded at Comicpalooza this year, featuring Dave Martin from the Wrecking Crew, Ross Watson, and Lenny Balsera from Evil Hat. They talk about designing memorable and effective villains for your game. Enjoy!

News: Boiling Point is out! Get it on DrivethruRPG or through the Base Raiders store. Tom is attending Go Play NW and might be showing up at Fear the Con. I will not be at either con, sadly, due to work. Synopsis: After running online games for Patreon backers, I’ve started to rethink my approach about designing scenarios, especially online games. Listen to Eclipse Phase: The Evac for an example online game. I talk through what I’m thinking about with Tom and hash out some new ideas for adventures. Tom also has a review of the movie San Andreas instead of a letter, plus shout outs and anecdotes. Shout Outs Iron Edda: In the grimdark heavy metal album cover past, there are only giant Viking robots and skeletons fighting each other. Kung Fury: It’s out and you should watch it. Flip the Table: A humorous podcast reviewing terrible board games. Fallen London: A browser game set in an alternate Victorian London. How Did This Get Made?: The episodes Deep Blue Sea, Face/Off, and The Island of Dr. Moreau are hilarious. Endless Legend: A science fantasy turn based strategy game. Mitch Murder: If you like Synthwave music, you’ll like Mitch. Song: Mirage by Mitch Murder.

Arkham Horror’s creator Richard Launius spoke for an hour at Comicpalooza this year, describing his experience making the game and his game design philosophy. I managed to get to this panel on time, so I recorded the whole thing. Enjoy!

Learn the ins and outs of being an RPG publisher from those who have been there! Help you discover how to start, how to avoid common pitfalls, what mistakes happen time and time again, and how a product gets put together, from start to finish! We’ll include tips on how to get your product noticed by other gamers and how to get your product in the hands of your customers. The panelists were Stan!, Leonard Balsera, and Brendan O’Ciarrai. (Due to a typo in the schedule for the con, I came into the panel late and missed the first 20 minutes. Sorry!)