Role Playing Public Radio

A cluster of enclaves in Missouri faces annihilation at the hands of a massive horde of the undead. Their only hope is to prepare for war, a job for their preeminent taker crew, the D4s. The crew uses an armored vehicle to take the largest scores of valuable goods they can find, no matter what gets in their way, whether it’s undead, human, or mother nature. In this episode, Jason B, Aaron, Maddy, David, and I talk about this campaign. How did Jason get the idea for it, how it was run, what we liked and what we would have changed, if anything. If you missed the campaign, here’s a page with links to all of the episodes. Music: The Dead Walk by John Carpenter

News: Check out Cody’s Kickstarter, Lose Your Own Paradise, a multiple choice adventure novel! Cody’s back and we’re examining an interesting Ravenloft scenario, The Created. It’s about an evil puppet trying to murder all the adults in a village. Only a group of heroic adventurers can stop it! Cody and I review this scenario and talk through its unusual design. If you like this episode, check out the RPPR Patreon and get access to many more episodes of RPPR After Hours. Song: Alive after Death by John Carpenter  

Sponsor: Check out the Chew RPG Kickstarter! After running a two part game with the new Forged in the Dark RPG, Chew, I wanted to talk to Pete Petrusha about the game. I liked how Chew ran differently than Blades as it focuses on investigating crimes instead of pulling off heists. Chew uses the FitD system but changes quite a few things about the mechanics from the original Blades in the Dark. Pete talks about the development cycle, how certain changes were made, and game design principles.

News: Please fill out the RPPR Survey so I can improve the quality of the RPPR Patreon. Thanks! Synopsis: Thad and I both have ideas for scenarios. I got an idea for an investigative scenario (probably Delta Green) after I watched a series called Fear City. It focuses on the FBI’s prosecution of the mafia in the early 80s and how wiretapping was a key component. So I thought why not build a scenario around wiretapping? Thad recently read a book called Strike about the history of labor organizing and thought that would be an interesting challenge for a Red Markets game. In this episode, we talk about our ideas and how to structure them as adventures. Follow Thad’s Twitter profile to keep up with his latest work, including his upcoming Twitch stream! Shout Outs Collection of Saga Final Fantasy Legend: The old gameboy FF games brought to the Switch Come Drink With Me: A wuxia classic. Kung fu and amazing storytelling. Strike: A history of labor organizing. Bar the Windows, Bolt the Doors: a story telling horror game. Sensor: The newest Junji Ito horror masterpiece. Grave Encounters 1 and 2: Architectural horror films. A very niche subgenre but I love it. Streets of Rogue: An action roguelike video game with surprising complexity. Psychonauts 2: An incredible platformer video game about healing trauma. Song: The Object by Gary Sevison

NOTE: This is a preview of our most recent After Hours episode. If you want to listen to the full episode, subscribe to the RPPR Patreon for only $2 a month! There’s one Palladium RPG we’ve barely mentioned and it’s now time to dissect it. Ninjas and Superspies is a bizarre mix of high tech espionage and martial art mysticism. It supposedly contains 41 unique martial art forms but as Baz, Rob, and I discover, it’s a bit weirder than that. Rob’s podcast, The Orpheus Protocol is worth checking out. Follow Baz’s Twitch stream Song: LUV 2 LUV by 2Mello

News: We’re remastering classic actual play episodes of RPPR! If you want to listen to Lady Gaga 2.0 with improved audio quality, download the episode here. If you want to pick which classic episodes are edited, back the RPPR Patreon before September 6. We’re running a special offer and I’ll be adding more rewards to the offer during this time. If the special offer does well, I’ll start remastering a lot of our episodes, including campaigns like Know Evil. Learn more on our Patreon post. Listen to a clip of the original podcast with the remastered version here. Synopsis: Gaming with the same people for years has its advantages and disadvantages. Aaron, Tom, and I discuss the differences between playing with regular friends versus new players. We also talk about how to avoid getting stale in long term game groups and how to add new players into groups. Shout outs The Empty Man: a horror film about a sinister cult and the power of the tulpa. Patron: a new city builder video game Green Knight: A new movie about the Arthurian poem Gawain and the Green Knight Godzilla Singular Point: a Netflix anime series about Godzilla and it’s pretty great Cooking Simulator: a video game about cooking Faust: An amazing surreal re-telling of the Marlowe play. Directed by the legendary Jan Švankmajer Caveat: An Irish thriller about a man trapped in a strange house with a stranger woman No End House: Season 2 of Channel Zero, an excellent horror TV series. Architectural horror! Song: No Rave Shit by 2 Mello

We have another preview episode of After Hours from the RPPR Patreon! If you enjoy this episode, consider backing us to help support this podcast. Episodes 70 ,71, and 72 continue our descent into Inferno. Synopsis: We’re going to Hell! Judge’s Guild put out a module called Inferno in 1980, ostensibly based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s a LOT. Caleb, Rob Stith (from the Orpheus Protocol) and Noah all followed me into this devilish scenario. We have so much to talk about that we are going to make a mini series of this journey as we could only get about halfway through the original module in this episode. There’s also a 2014 remake of the scenario that completes the entire 9 circles of Hell! If you liked this episode, be sure to check out The Mixed Six The Orpheus Protocol Thinking Too Hard About Anime Song: Lake of Fire by Gost

News: Check out Arkham Cold Cases on the RPPR Patreon! Episode 4 features Caleb as a guest and it’s quite hilarious. Listen to a sample here. We’ve also picked a regular time for livestreams on the RPPR Patreon Discord – 6 pm CST on Sundays. Come hang out with us by joining the Patreon. Synopsis: Over the last year, Shaun has become a fan of vtubers, a new type of performer on streaming services like Twitch and Youtube. They use custom face rig animation software to look like cartoon characters while they chat and play various games. Many vtubers have gotten into tabletop RPGs, Many vtubers are Japanese and their RPG habits are quite different. This article from Dicebreaker helps explain. Shout Outs Psycho Goreman: a hilarious Monsters and Other Childish Things-stylized horror comedy movie. A must-see for RPPR fans! Ask a Mortician: A mortician and Youtuber who answers questions about death. Superliminal: a puzzle game based on optical illusions. Tasting History: A Youtube channel focused on food history Survival Skills: an unnerving film themed around 1980s police training videos. Demon Wind: an over the top horror movie from 1990. The Last Spell: a tactical combat RPG roguelike with town building elements. Song: My Valentine has shiny eyes by Darkness

Caleb and I sat down to talk about his new project, Fae’s Anatomy. It parodies the stories found in procedural medical dramas. Think General Hospital, Grey’s Anatomy, M.A.S.H, or House. Only insane, because who needs realism? It mixes over the top melodrama role playing with cooperative puzzle solving. Caleb talks about the design process, preparing it for Kickstarter, and using online tools like Discord for development and community management. It’s currently on Kickstarter so check it out now. Song: Pain Management by Zephyr Medical Group

Ludonarrative Dissidents is a new podcast series from Ross Payton, Greg Stolze, and James Wallis. Check out the Kickstarter to help fund this project and get unique rewards! In each episode, we plan to focus on a particular RPG, looking at its mechanics, setting, and everything else to see what makes this game tick. In this preview episode, we look at Apocalypse World, the RPG that launched a revolution in the indie RPG scene. We try to answer the following questions: 1) What the game does. 2) How it does it. 3) How people play it. 4) Why people play it that way. If you want to hear more episodes, help us get our goal for a season of six episodes, with the games chosen by backers! We also have rewards for bundles of our games in PDF, a chance to play in an online game run by one of us, and get your game critiqued by us!