RPGBOT.Podcast

Join the RPGBOT crew as they wrap up their Pulp Cthulhu experiment — answering listener questions, unpacking mechanics, debating wizard builds, and confirming once and for all that Pulp Cthulhu is less "existential dread" and more "Indiana Jones punches Nazis with a jetpack." Show Notes The finale Q&A session closes out the RPGBOT Quickstart series on Pulp Cthulhu with a reflective, mechanics-focu...

Every tabletop party eventually meets the same terrifying monster: Not a dragon. Not a lich. Not even a gelatinous cube. No — it's the moment the GM says: "Okay… what do you say to the Duke?" Suddenly the barbarian who decapitated three ogres can't order soup, the bard becomes a hostage negotiator, and someone is Googling "how to Persuasion check in real life." This episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast d...

In the thrilling conclusion of the  RPGBOT.Pulp Cthulhu Actual Play , our heroes discover that Luck points are real, sanity is optional, and jetpacks are — scientifically speaking — extremely explosive plot devices. Bjorn steals the Necronomicon with telekinesis, Murray forgets who he is, everyone falls in love with the villain thanks to eldritch karaoke mind control, and the final boss fight is r...

Nothing says "pulp adventure" like pouring jet fuel into a moving car, chasing Nazis across the desert, watching a monocle explode off someone's face, and then accidentally triggering sanity-shattering cosmic horror before lunch. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Pulp Cthulhu Actual Play , Murray and Bjorn demonstrate that reckless engineering is a valid transportation strategy, grenades are a valid d...

Ritual spellcasting is the part of tabletop roleplaying games where wizards stop blowing things up for ten minutes and instead argue about chalk circles, incense pricing, and whether chanting counts as a somatic component if you're holding snacks. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, we dive deep into  D&D ritual casting mechanics , explore how Pathfinder and 5e ritual spells change encounter pa...

There are two ways to learn a tabletop RPG: read the rulebook… or get shot at on a collapsing train while chasing occult Nazis across North Africa. In this RPGBOT.Quickstart actual play of  Pulp Cthulhu , the crew demonstrates how cinematic pulp RPG sessions actually unfold — complete with relic thefts, hypnotized enemies, catastrophic dice rolls, and a physics-defying jetpack solution. If you've...

There are monsters in tabletop RPGs that exist to be fought, monsters that exist to be feared, and monsters that exist to make the Dungeon Master quietly whisper, "I hope you prepared spells with saving throws." Beholders fall squarely into that last category. This week on RPGBOT.Podcast, we're diving deep into Beholder-Kin — floating orbs of paranoia, laser violence, and architectural malpractice...

Death in Dungeons & Dragons is weird. Sometimes it's a tragic, character-defining moment that reshapes the campaign. Other times it's a minor inconvenience solved by rooting around in the cleric's pockets for a diamond and a receipt. In this episode, we crack open the lid on resurrection mechanics—how revivify, raise dead, and resurrection actually work, why death saving throws matter less than yo...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today's character creation lesson begins with basic geometry, escalates into psychic powers, and somehow ends with a pacifist circus bear being seriously considered as a build option. In this episode, we take the gloves off and actually make characters for Pulp Cthulhu —choosing archetypes, rolling stats, hoarding skill points like goblins, and discovering that...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast—where Unearthed Arcana comes to be lovingly examined, gently mocked, and occasionally asked,  "Buddy… are you okay?" Today we're cracking open the latest UA drop from Wizards of the Coast, featuring a Monk who does mystic stuff (but don't ask him what kind), a Paladin who took an oath against spellcasters yet somehow became their HR department, a Rogue whose entire jo...

At level 11, the Cleric stops being "the healer" and starts being "the department of cosmic corrections." Need a miracle? You've got it. Need a battlefield reorganized? Also you. Need the DM to quietly reconsider every encounter they prepped? Congratulations: you just prepared  Heroes' Feast and learned that your god's job description includes "professional problem solver, part-time artillery, ful...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today's lesson is simple: cosmic horror, but with punchable Nazis . If classic  Call of Cthulhu is about fragile academics discovering forbidden truths and immediately dying, Pulp Cthulhu is about kicking down the door, firing a shotgun at an elder god, and saying, "That all you got?" This episode is about concepts, themes, and vibes —the part of the game where...

Welcome back to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today we're talking about Plane of Elysium —the one afterlife that sounds so good the Dungeon Master has to invent mechanics to stop you from moving there permanently. It's paradise. Your needs are met. You're at peace. You're happy.  Too happy. In fact, if you stay too long, you might fail a Wisdom save and decide adventuring, heroism, and saving the mult...

Somewhere in the multiverse, a cleric just whispered "I prepared  Bless ," and three dice immediately rolled higher out of pure fear. Because clerics aren't "the healbot," they're the divine Swiss Army knife: buffer, debuffer, front-liner, artillery, investigator, walking lie detector, and occasionally the person who politely asks a demon to leave and the demon actually does. Today we're building...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where tonight we bravely attempt to eat the entire  Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting menu in one sitting. No tie-ins, no supplements, no "this was technically in Dragon Magazine once" nonsense: just the  official D&D settings , served tasting-menu style. From post-apocalyptic deserts where magic killed the planet , to punk fantasy with robot soldiers , to the sett...

Have you ever opened a published TTRPG adventure, read three chapters in, and thought:  "There is absolutely no way my players will do any of this" ? Welcome to Adapting Published TTRPG Settings , where the RPGBOT crew explains why modules are suggestions, railroads are imaginary, and your Big Bad will absolutely die three sessions early because someone invented an arcane nuclear device. Whether y...

Death in tabletop RPGs is a lot like a group project: everyone insists they're prepared for it, nobody actually reads the rules, and somehow it's always the wizard's fault. In this episode, the RPGBOT crew stares straight into the great beyond—death saves, dying conditions, resurrection magic, and those awkward moments when the cleric checks their spell slots and quietly says, "So… about that body...

Dragons are eternal. Gaming mice are not. In today's episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, we survive cursed peripherals, catastrophic Kingdom turns, and at least one near-fatal werewolf encounter before finally turning our attention to the real reason we woke up before dawn:  Paizo's Lost Omens: Draconic Codex . It's a book that asks the important questions—like "What if dragons were powered by magical...

Welcome back to RPGBOT.Podcast , where Ash is a Top GM™ , Tyler is still emotionally processing Bastions, and Randall has discovered that Eberron finally lets you live your best divorced-dad-with-a-houseboat fantasy. In  Part 2 of our review of Eberron: Forge of the Artificer , we leave the artificer workshop behind and dive headfirst into dragonmarked intrigue, mobile bastions, noir detectives, p...

Show Notes Elementals are the walking embodiment of the four classic forces— fire, air, water, and earth —and they're one of the easiest monster families to drop into any campaign while still feeling mythic, dangerous, and thematically sharp. In this remastered episode, the RPGBOT crew digs into how to make elementals more than "a pile of hit points with a damage type"—including encounter roles, t...

Welcome back to  RPGBOT.Podcast , where optimism is optional, feedback is weaponized, and today we're firing up the lightning rails straight into Eberron: Forge of the Artificer . This is Part 1 of our review, which means we're here to ask the most important questions first: Does this book actually understand artificers? Does it respect Eberron's magic-as-industry vibe? And will Ash rant about cor...

Show Notes The RPGBOT crew closes out Season 5 the only way they know how: with heartfelt gratitude, passionate rants, accidental comedy, and at least one derailment into pop culture discourse. In this end-of-year recap, Randall, Tyler, and Ash look back on a year of certified bangers , a few corporate-mandated stinkers , and the surprising joy of discovering that people are, in fact, listening. A...

In this remastered episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, we continue to shine a spotlight on building one of the most intriguing classes in the game: the Rogue. With their sneaky tactics and manipulative ways, Rogues add an essential element of mystery and cunning to any adventuring party. Join us as we break down the key components of building a successful Rogue character, and learn how to level up your...

On this remastered episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast , we complete our 3-part series on Picking a TTRPG that is not DnD or Pathfinder by adventuring deep into the vast and thrilling universe of tabletop RPGs. From the spine-chilling cosmic horror of Alien RPG to the gritty nihilism of Death in Space , we're exploring the diverse themes of space exploration, teenage superheroes, cyberpunk chaos, and ev...

Ever wondered what beer chemistry, emo vampires, and broom mechanics have in common? Neither did we, until this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast! We're diving deep into RPG madness, from the grimy charm of  Shadow Dark  to the chaos of  Warhammer's  magic (spoiler: it's messy). Then, we tackle  Symbaroum , where sweeping is serious business, and  Vison , the perfect game for overachieving detectives....