Role Playing Public Radio

This episode is sponsored by Audible Books. Sign up today and get a free 14 day trial and audiobook. News: Check out the newest RPPR Kickstarter: Killsplosion! A rules light competitive PvP tabletop RPG. Get 10 preview RPPR Actual Play episodes when you contribute $20 or more. Zombies of the World on sale! Get your print copy autographed by the RPPR group or get the PDF for only $2.99 Synopsis: We’ve been talking about adventure and campaign design lately, so we thought it would be appropriate for an episode on horror campaigns and how to run them. The pacing for a horror campaign is different because characters in these games tend to wear down through attrition. Thus, you have to take into account their reduced capabilities when designing adventures or plan for a new way to insert new player characters when the existing ones die or go mad. Furthermore, less is more when it comes to horror. A slight aberration from the mundane is often more terrifying than random tentacle monsters. Tom did not write a letter but we do have shout outs and anecdotes. Shout outs: Nostalgic Critic: The Haunting – find out which was the best version of this haunted house movie. Z.N.A: Journey: A zombie apocalypse ebook. Short and entertaining. Patton Oswalt – Finest Hour: A new comedy CD by Patton Oswalt. Fantasy by DYE: Electro song with epic music video. NSFW. Prince of Darkness: Part of John Carpenter’s Apocalypse trilogy. The Dedicated: A modded Killing Floor server with new weapons and high level perks. The Thing: Classic alien sci-fi horror and part of the Apocalypse trilogy. The Hunger Games Trilogy: Great dystopian sci-fi novel series. In the Mouth of Madness: Lovecraftian horror film and part of the Apocalypse trilogy. Song: Forest of Fear by Bob Dean  

News: This episode is sponsored by Audible Books. Sign up today and get a free 14 day trial and audiobook. Zombies of the World is on sale during October! Save $5 off the print edition or $2 off the ebook edition. Synopsis: Adventure design for long term campaigns is different than designing for a one shot scenario. Keeping up with the entirety of a complex ruleset is impossible for a campaign so you must determine what rules to keep track of and what to ignore. Adventures have to be geared to specific player characters. You can’t keep adding on new elements into the campaign. Instead, you must provide closure for the plot elements you do introduce. We discuss all of these topics and more. Furthermore, Tom has a new letter, shout outs and more. Shout outs: Com Truise: Ultra chillax 80s style electronic music. Check out the ultimate 80s cyberpunk music video. I Sell the Dead: Grave robbers sell corpses to doctors. Undead appear. Hilarity ensues. Shadow of a Dead Star: Sci-fi horror novel delving into the depravities of the cybernetics black market. Adventures of Pete and Pete: One of the great shows made by Nickelodeon in the 90s. Z.N.A: Zombie survival horror novella. Worth the 99 cents to a zombie fan. Delilah Dirk: High adventure webcomic with incredible art. Monster Pulse: Kids with monsters fight an evil government conspiracy. Hark A Vagrant: A print edition of one of the funniest webcomics of all time. Song: League of Extraordinary Adventurers by Sounda

Ad: Critical Miss magazine edited by Jonny Nexus. Synopsis: Adventure design is a complex topic so we’d thought we would delve into it once again. In this episode, Tom and I discuss the difference between good design choices and style choices. While good design is applicable to any genre of RPG scenario, it is possible to make choices in creating an adventure that only work under certain circumstances. The choice to emphasize one aspect of a game over another isn’t necessarily right or wrong. It’s a style choice. Hack and slash versus political intrigue? Style. Dungeon crawling versus mass battles? Style. Tom also has a new letter entailing the virtues of various cinematic firearms. Shout outs: Americus: A graphic novel about a student dealing with a book banning. Excellent writing and art. Island of the Fishmen: Bizarre Italian horror flick about fishmen. Cthulhu Dark: An ultra rules light RPG of Cthulhu inspired insanity. Messiah of Evil: Public domain 1970s Lovecraftian zombie horror film Bastion: Amazing indie RPG with unique setting, art and music Cargo: The most Eclipse Phase-ish sci fi movie I’ve seen in a while Seven Minutes in Heaven: Hilariously awkward interviews. Check out Elijah Wood’s interview. Song: PonPonPon De Floor mashup (special request from Caleb)

News: Check out Raillery Redux, my new video game focused podcast. Synopsis: In this episode, we bring in Aaron and David to discuss their experiences at Gencon 2011. Aaron ran three sessions of a Monsters and Other Childish Things game based on the Secrets of NIMH while this was David’s first Gencon. David cosplayed as an anime character, so he had a different experience. We also go over our purchases at Gencon and share more anecdotes from con games. Shout outs: The Last Lovecraft: A horror-comedy about the Cthulhu Mythos and H.P. Lovecraft. Stealing Cthulhu: the perfect resource to jumpstart your next Cthulhu mythos based game The Noodle Company: Holy shit they have great noodles 7 Wonders: A board game of skill and strategy LFG volume 2: If you like the webcomic, you’ll like this print collection Hobomancer: Magic hobos fight crime or evil or some junk. Awesome name for a game Arkham Horror: It’s still the best Cthulhu themed board game ever Shane Ivey: Keep up with the Arc Dream publisher on Twitter Adam Scott Glancy: BUY HIS BOOKS Mutuk Wolfsbreath Hard Boiled Shaman: Film Noir meets Siberian shamanism. AND IT WORKS The Hunger Games: Battle Royale as a YA novel series. Very gameable material Song: Comedians by Cossbysweater

This year’s Gencon was so great, we will have to do two episodes to cover it all. In this episode, we bring RPPR regular Caleb to discuss his first impressions of the con and the games he ran and played in. We all talk about the newest games we picked up and Tom discusses the game he ran and other things he did. I also interviewed George Strayton, creator of The Secret Fire, a new fantasy RPG. It’s a short interview but I added in place of Tom’s letter. He discusses the design philosophy behind the game, his background as a screenwriter and more. Shout outs Panopticon: The newest Eclipse Phase supplement. Zombie Spaceship Wasteland: A hilarious book by Patton Oswalt. Old School Hack: Awesome free rules-light RPG and gold Ennie winner. Delta Green Gencon Panel: Listen to the informative Delta Green/Unspeakable Oath panel recorded at this Gencon. Cthulhu Invictus: Cthulhu in ancient Rome. A winning combination! Song: Zombie by Anssi 8000 and Maria Stereo

I recorded a panel discussion of Eclipse Phase designers Rob Boyle and Adam Jury as they discussed their current plans for the transhuman sci-fi horror RPG. In this discussion, they go over planned releases, their business model and the themes behind Eclipse Phase. If you’re curious about what’s in store for Firewall and the rest of transhumanity, this would be a good listen.

News: Vote for Monsters and Other Childish Things: Road Trip (Cubicle 7/Arc Dream Publishing) in the best adventure category. Be sure to vote it as #1! Zombies of the World products now have free US shipping. Order your copy today. Synopsis: THIS IS A NSFW EPISODE. Tom remembered a horribly boring dungeon crawl campaign he suffered from in his youth. He wanted to take the cliches he saw in that game and make them actually fun. So, we discuss how to take cliches like traps, prisoners and treasure in dungeons and make them new and exciting. Also, because we are horrible, horrible monsters we read another excerpt from the rpg.net FATAL review. Also, Tom was too busy to write a letter. Be sure to let him know that you like his letters. Maybe he’ll grace us with a letter again. Maybe. Shout outs: Emissary of War: An iOS RPG created by a RPPR listeners. Check out the trailer Re: Old Spice – Cthulhu wants to talk about deodorant. Plus a brain in a jar. Calypsis:  Post-apocalyptic dystopian novel written as a wiki. SVK: Warren Ellis wrote a unique comic that utilizes ultraviolet light and ink. The Presidents: History Channel TV show boxed set about the US presidents Cthulhu Saves the World: Now on PC via Steam. Less than three bucks too Conspiracy: History Channel show about conspiracy theories Song: Good Days and Cliches by Nevernoodz  

Zombies of the World is now available in print, PDF and Kindle format! My book, Road Trip, has been nominated for an Ennie! Synopsis: Bildungsroman is a fancy way of describing the ‘youth to adulthood’ genre – stories like “to Kill a Mockingbird” where the character grows from a child to become an adult or closer to an adult. Role playing games are often like these stories – characters grow from being relatively weak and naive to eventually becoming epic badasses of destiny. However, many game systems do not encourage character growth – advancement is slow, ponderous and mechanically difficult. Furthermore, most campaigns are relatively short – interrupted or abandoned for myriad reasons. If you want players to grow at a faster pace, what should you do? How is mechanical growth different from role playing growth? Tom and I discuss these issues and more. Plus, instead of a letter, Tom and I read an excerpt from the infamous rpg.net review of FATAL. It’s definitely NSFW. Shout outs Attack the Gas Station 1 and 2: Hilariously insane Korean comedies. The Eliminators: An action sci-fi movie with ninjas, mandroids, cavemen, robots and time travel. Follows the conventions of RPGs coincidentally enough. Ugly Americans: an animated sitcom about monsters and normal people living together. Killing Floor: Steampunk/circus summer event going on right now! Monkeys with chainsaws! Steam Summer Sale: only a few days left! The Man From Nowhere: Intense Korean action/thriller. Do not fuck with the pawnshop owner. Promo: Explodey File podcast.  Song: Growing up and Getting out by Adam Boucher.

oh 80s cyberpunk, you will always have a place in my heart Synopsis: Science fiction is an under appreciated genre in role playing games. Fantasy (Dungeons and Dragons) and horror (World of Darkness) dominate RPGs and most of the popular sci-fi games out there aren’t really science fiction or are horribly anachronistic. Tom and I discuss the state of science fiction and how it is different than fantasy or horror. As the literature of ideas, sci-fi should play differently than other genres. Everything from thematic content to the design of the game should be affected. We also have a letter from Tom, shout outs, an anecdote and reader letters. Shout outs: Phenomena: A dreamlike horror fairy tale from Dario Argento. Dinosaur Rap: A Whitest Kids You Know comedy sketch The Found Footage Festival: The most bizarre and surreal videos of the past. Behold the Clown Ministry and weep Unspeakable! A podcast about Call of Cthulhu and Delta Green. Episode 1 is online Magicka: Nippon and Marshlands: new DLC for Magicka Risking it all: Pakistan – documentary about the risks truck drivers make in the treacherous mountains of Pakistan. Black Black Jobs: First scenario anthology for The Laundry RPG Music: Science Fiction by the Cobra Dukes.

Watch Zombies of the World episode 1: Migration and learn how it was made on the ZOTW blog. If you want to contribute art for the Lemurian Ruins – email rpprpodcast@gmail.com. Synopsis: Game balance is a tricky thing. While in some cases, it’s easy to spot an unbalanced system like Palladium or Synnibarr but other times, a game’s imbalances won’t be revealed until you’ve played it for a while. So what do you when you find out that the game you’re playing is unbalanced? We discuss how to deal with these situations. It’s possible to change systems, house rule it so that it’s balanced or use the social contract to keep things fair. Also instead of a letter, Tom talks about having a cyst cut out of him. It’s really gross (NSFW link do not click this) Shout outs: Linotype: An upcoming documentary about the linotype machine. Tucker and Dale vs Evil: Very funny horror-comedy about college students vs. hapless hillbillies. Rubber: A movie about a psychic killer tire. Why is this great? No reason. Hobo with a Shotgun: Rutger Hauer murders bad guys with a shotgun. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT Mortal Kombat 9: Old school controls with brand new graphics. The Unspeakable Oath: The best Call of Cthulhu magazine in this universe (or any other for that matter) Spirit of Truth/Redemption: A Mass Effect fanfic that Tom really enjoyed. Mafia 2: It’s like a mob movie but you get to shoot the guys. Dread: Unique horror RPG with a unusual conflict resolution mechanic… Magicka Vietnam: wizards with AK-47s mowing down goblin and orc hordes. Fun times. Music: Our Life Our Rules by Moral Decline