Rene Plays Games

The adventure continues.   As Iorlas and Fitch Talltree, Forester of Archet hunt for the escaped servants of Saruman in the Chetwood, something from Fitch's past comes back to settle a different score. Iorlas is wounded.   Learn more about The One Ring 2e by Free League Publishing .   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to h...

Welcome back to the monthly design diaries series of 2026 where I am holding myself accountable toward putting out more games.   We're back to talk more Gardens of Rust, the post-catastrophe survival and community rebuilding game by myself and Christian from the DMs After Dark .    This is the final episode of this series for Gardens of Rust and it goes over the Community Phase of the game; when t...

The adventure continues.   Iorlas takes Drustan the Mercenary to Bree to face justice, but underestimates the extent of his resources. When Iorlas beseeches the folk of Bree to help him search for the escaped man, he must convince them before it's too late. In the end, he moves on, refusing to let evil men spread.   Learn more about The One Ring 2e by Free League Publishing .   ----more---- Join t...

Bonjour! Salut! Ça va? Bienvenue a un autre Perspective Checks episode where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG Community to talk about all the things we love about this wonderful hobby.   Today you're getting not one but TWO Renes! I'm joined by Rene-Pier (RP) from Fari RPGs , creator of so many incredible games that almost all have free SRDs so you can learn the rules and make your...

The adventure begins.   Iorlas, Ranger of the North, Dunedain, descendant of Numenor, leaves the Grey Havens in spring on a quest from Cirdan, the Shipwright to investigate a blight on the sacred trees with which the elves build the ships that ferry the elves on to Valinor upon their departure from Middle Earth.   On his way through the Shire to head south to the ruins of Eryn Vorn, Iorlas runs in...

Another episode of Tabletop Tutorial, where I'm joined by a guest to learn a new game together, one-on-one!   This time I'm joined by my wife, Lynn, for more Lynnsanity. She recently bought me a zine by Wolf Manzella a.k.a. Wyrd Wolf Entertainment called Dick Wizards ! Yes, you read that right, and what a title! It's provocative, it gets the people going!   Now temper those thoughts, because this...

Good day to you, I say, fair folk of the internet, and welcome to the character creation episode for my next solo podcast series of The One Ring 2e by Free League Publishing .   This is a short episode I'm putting out because things have gotten a little out of control here in March for me, and will continue to be for April, so please be patient with my episode releases for the next month and a hal...

Welcome back to the monthly design diaries series of 2026 where I am holding myself accountable toward putting out more games.   We're back to talk more Gardens of Rust, the post-catastrophe survival and community rebuilding game by myself and Christian from the DMs After Dark .    In episode 3 I go over the usual responsibilities and role of the GM. Calling for rolls, how to prep (minimally, beca...

Apologies for Laurence's Audio in this episode, the recording was a little strange when it exported from our video call, but I did the best I could. If you have any questions, please message or email me! (Or reach out to Laurence!)   Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!  ...

Sybil's time in the Dungeons comes to an end. She leaves with a friend on a new journey.   Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page !   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly gener...

Welcome back to the monthly design diaries series of 2026 where I am holding myself accountable toward putting out more games.   We're back to talk more Gardens of Rust, the post-catastrophe survival and community rebuilding game by myself and Christian from the DMs After Dark .    In episode 2 I walk through the Character Creation process and create two different characters to try and show the br...

Welcome back for another episode of Colostle - Dungeons!   Sybil and friends explore the Rookling Forge and discover a dark secret. They follow the spectral chains down to the source to save a friend.   Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Pa...

We're back again for another totally romantic Valentine's Day one-shot!   The annual tradition continues as my wife Lynn joins me for a tangentially-love-related one-shot of a TTRPG session. This year we go back to Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu to play the 2nd scenario in the Does Love Forgive? collection of 1-GM-1-Player mysteries!   One day after Chicago's St. Valentine's Day Massacre in February 1...

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   Ian and I met playing in a short TTRPG series for previous guest of the show C.R. Rowenson's LitRPG series New Eternity and knew we had to chat more from our brief interactions and roles as the tankybois of the party.   Ian is one-ha...

Welcome back for another episode of Colostle - Dungeons!   Sybil returns to the major labyrinth Castle Revolving to reach the heart of the dungeon and find what lies within. Then, a new friend leads the crew straight to the Rookling Forge.   Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I...

Helloooooo my favorite nerds.   Welcome to the first episode of my monthly design diaries series here in 2026 where I am holding myself accountable toward putting out more games.   I have already pivoted! The first episode was supposed to be about my upcoming playing card-based 2-player buddy cop TTRPG Decktectives, but the state of the modern world made me really not want to talk about any kind o...

Welcome back for another episode of Colostle - Dungeons!   After escaping the Castle Revolving major labyrinth, Sybil recovers back in Oubliette during a festival known as Stillnights.   Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page !   -...

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   We're kicking off 2026 with PJ Sack, a fellow solo podcaster and host of the excellent A Wasteland Story Fallout 2d20 solo AP as well as the incredible The Solo Roleplayers Podcast , which you will absolutely love if you're listening...

Welcome back for another episode of Colostle - Dungeons!   Pressing on and into the major labyrinth Castle Revolving, Sybil and the rooklings (and Zorn) quickly realize this is not like the rest of the Dungeons. This labyrinth is hostile and brutally punishing on top of being a confusing maze to navigate.   Sybil begins to figure out the way through, but the elemental attrition and Bastion defende...

Another year of the podcast is in the books! In this short episode I mostly just want to thank everyone for listening and share some insights from the year.   Some big ones were: Over 10,000 downloads in 2025 (whoa, thank you) Better gender diversity in Perspective Checks (working on racial diversity, I promise) 15 different games on the podcast in 2025 (same as 2024, weird)   And for 2026, I have...

Happy Holidays!   DO YOU HAVE THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT IN YOU?   Welcome back to another DMs After Dark holiday one-shot! This year we decided to do a sequel to a previous holiday special - the Thursday time loop cheesy holiday movie set in a strange little bean tree town that we have appropriately named Beantree! This year, a group is traveling to avoid holiday get-togethers in a one-shot of Grant Ho...

Time for another Tabletop Tutorial, the series where I play two player TTRPGs with friends and we learn them together.   BIG OL' CONTENT WARNINGS FOR THIS EPISODE: Death, Alcoholism, Inappropriate Crude Body Humor, Body Horror, and probably a whole lot more, be careful with this one, please. It's heavy.   I'm once again joined by Troy from the DMs After Dark to play the heartbreaking two player TT...

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   The last Perspective Checks of 2025 is a wonderful conversation with Kat The Dungeon Mom , a GM, actual play performer, teacher, mom, and so much more as a community member. We sit down to talk about raising the next generation of ne...

Welcome back for another episode of Colostle - Dungeons!   Sybil wants to return to Oubliette to have her new unique rookstone appraised, but she didn't get here alone, so she continues deeper into the Dungeons with Zorn and the rookling  to find the lost rooklings and possibly a Rookling Forge.   Sybil finds a way back to the surface, but with too many questions left unanswered, she stays in the...

We're a few days late, but if it means anything to you, dear listener, it made me haul a lot of my music equipment up to my office and I am definitely going to try and do more original music for my episodes now!   Welcome to another one-player one-shot where I play games I have been dying to get to the table all by myself. This time it's another by one of my favorite designers in the TTRPG communi...