Role Playing Public Radio

SHIT JUST GOT REAL Apologies to MSpaint adventures! It’s time for the final battle between the Thieves Guild and the heroic ragtag army of underdogs (i.e. the players)! Who will live? Who will die? Who will die, then live because the players bitch enough to make me change my ruling? Find out in Episode 12

We’re back from Gencon and we’ve gathered our thoughts. It was an exhausting, exhilarating and expensive four days but well worth it. We cover everything from the trip to Indy, hotels, to the actual games we played or ran and our purchases. Tom tried out a few official games while I ran seven games, including an after hours Call of Cthulhu game. Of course the big news is that we played...

The White House Washington March 15, 1984 Costumed Vigilantes, Adventurers and Criminals & The Reagan Act Executive Summary Today, President Cheney is proud to sign the Reagan Act into law. The tragedy of last year’s Air Force One attack galvanized Congress to finally outlaw so-called ‘masks’, as they are a clear and present danger to the American people. After decades of tolerating these frin...

In order to celebrate the success of the second RPPR ransom the Goblin Hulk, we’ll post the next episode of The New World Campaign. In this game, we introduce a new player, Mike, who takes over the NPC warforged named Watcher. The Water Barons have learned of the thieves guild’s stronghold and now must march on it with their ragtag army. Can they survive the dangerous wilderness with t...

Donate to the RPPR Ransom, The Goblin Hulk, a 4E D&D Dungeon usable in any campaign! Tom, Aaron and I discuss our plans for this year’s Gencon and RPPR’s third time there. But before we get into that, I discuss the werestorm, one of the more baffling features of the World of Synnibarr. Tom’s going to play in several games and I’m running 6 games for Arc Dreams . Even Aa...

If you want to see more of the goblin hulk  – contribute now and help support RPPR Dark cousins to the grippli, these degenerate creatures worship a dark nameless entity – perhaps an ancient god whose name was forgotten by civilized man or a demon lord so corrupting that even to name it is to grant it power. The albino grippli have wormed their way ever closer to the surface and are no...

So you want to be a superhero?  No such thing. But. You can be a mask, which is why you’re here. You said superhero but you meant a mask. The difference? Simple. Superheroes didn’t choose to be what they turned out to be. They made the best with what they had. That’s why they died off. Masks want to be masks. Need to be. The governments, all around the world, passed those crackdown laws. That took...

The Water Barons must now take a stand against the Thieves Guild. Lines are drawn, preparations are made and the final confrontation draws ever closer. This session and the next two sessions mark the conclusion of the heroic tier of the New World RPPR campaign. Also, be sure to check out the next RPPR ransom, the Goblin Hulk module. No one welcomes the goblin horde into their land. No one wants th...

Conflict is the heart of drama, yet that doesn’t mean it’s always welcome in a role playing game, especially when it is between players. So when a debate becomes an argument or when tempers rise, what should you do? Tom and I discuss how to deal with various meta-player conflicts, as a GM and as a player. Instead of a letter, Tom reviews an animated movie The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. The sec...

Tom, the co-host of RPPR has long since been a featured player in the actual plays but the table have now been turned.  In his first ever game of Call of Cthulhu, he pits a group of German soldiers against the horrors of a Nazi experiment gone wrong. In the winter. In a remote base. With little chance of escaping. Thanks a lot Tom.

Meet Pontifex. The tribes of the New World call him Grandfather for he is older than any living creature. He has slaughtered entire tribes, commands all to do his bidding if need be, yet no tribal thinks to slay him or even hate him. What point is there in warring or hating a force of such power that it might as well be a hurricane or an earthquake? The Water Barons meet Pontifex for the first tim...

Taking a tour in an established setting like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings can be a highlight of your gaming experience or the vacation from hell. Crossing lightsabers with Vader, flying with the crew of the Serenity or taking down a Terminator with pipe bombs and Mack trucks is the stuff of gaming legend. But on the other hand, being smacked down by Drizzt, begging Elminister for help or watchin...

A new dawn breaks for our intrepid heroes, the Water Barons. They finally decide to explore the Lemurian ruins near the colony. Will they survive the deadly traps and deadlier denizens of this dungeon? Find out in game 8 of the New World Campaign!

Inspired by our recent 4th edition D&D campaign, Tom and I discuss the usage of maps, miniatures and other props and gimmicks in tabletop games. While some games like Dungeons and Dragons nessecitate at least using some of these add-ons and others like Call of Cthulhu practically drown players in handouts, so where should you draw the line? How much is too much and when do they take away from...

The New World Awaits News of the discovery spreads like wildfire. Ambitious lords, zealous high priests and enterprising merchants draw their plans fervently. The docks of the cities blaze with activity, as ships are outfitted for long journeys and word goes out at every village square and tavern throughout the kingdom. The New World has been found and the rush to claim and colonize it has begun!...

In this session, the Water Barons confront a dangerous beast that stalks the colony. It has killed and terrorized the simple workers of the colony and no one dares to venture outside the protective walls of the colony. Find out who pays the ultimate price to stop the beast!

In this episode, Tom and I more or less interview each other about our habits as players. Find out what can truly surprise Tom in a game or what my favorite character type is. If you want to get an idea of how to improve your game, think about how you play, what works and what doesn’t work. Also, to make up for the recent lack of content, we’ve made this episode nearly 90 minutes long....

Show your support for RPPR by donating to the New World Campaign Primer Ransom! There’s less than a week to go. The Water Barons (I.E. our intrepid heroes) face many new threats and dangers this session. The thieves guild has its own designs on the New World. A rival adventuring company becomes popular in the colony. The grippli must gain legal protection so they won’t be enslaved by t...

The worst pain you can feel when running a game comes from min/maxing players, the jerks who love nothing more to make unstoppable killing machines that defy the laws of man, god, common sense, physics and the damn game itself. So, how do you deal with these min/maxers? We provide a few ways to dish out the pain or rather ways to sensibly negotiate and make reasonable compromises with the player&#...

For the last year, I have been writing and running a massive Call of Cthulhu campaign. I have not breathed a word about it so I could unleash it to the world in one massive release. However, everything fell apart in the last session. I will post this as a warning to never give the players what they want. I deleted all of my notes and game recordings in a fit of rage so don’t bother asking ab...

In this session, the players continue their struggles against the goblins massing in the New World. Theolonius the merchant lord tries to manipulate the players but will it pay off? How will Cody’s romantic exploits be used against him? Will the grippli be rescued? Find out in session 5! If you enjoy the New World Campaign, please consider contributing a few bucks to the New World Campaign P...

The time of judgment is upon us. Tom and I judge a few games, a D&D mockumentary and several bad GM habits. The Assemblage of the Crystal Sphere is a indie comedy about a RPG group about to complete a 5 year campaign. Tom looks at Cthulhutech , a game of animu giant robots fighting monsters from the cthulhu mythos in the future! I talk about Paranoia XP , the newest version of the classic sci...

Special thanks to Goodman Games This PDF contains material not used in the 4E Dungeons and Dragons scenario, “Tides of Doom”. It has guidelines on running encounters inside Crafthaven, as the cult will attempt to get rid of the players while they rest in the Inn. It also introduces a vigilante ally, the Red Brigand, who may aid the players. It has nothing in the way of stats as I wrote...

Rejoice! Game 4 of the RPPR 4E Dungeons and Dragons New World campaign is here! The party has to deal with the horde of goblins migrating to the new world as they are threatening their grippli allies! Plus, romance, orc migration, intrigue and a daring escape from a goblin ship. Oh and loads of profanity, banter and violence. Sweet, sweet violence. This episode brought to you by RPGNow . GM day is...

Recorded by Ross Payton I was one of the little dots you see here on the National Mall on Jan 20 2009. I brought my H2 digital recorder (which I use to record all of the RPPR actual play sessions) and recorded president Obama’s Inauguration speech as an experiment in field recording . Unfortunately in my haste to get to the Mall that morning I did not pack enough batteries to record everythi...