Rene Plays Games

After falling through the floor in the ruins of Fornost, Iorlas discovers something worse than orcs or evil Men. Luckily he gets out and makes it back to Bree, where he begins to recover from the terrifying ordeal and reunites with Gandalf before the next leg of his journey begins...   Learn more about The One Ring 2e by Free League Publishing .   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord chann...

Playtest session 2 of Ironsworn: Legacies!   Tessa and the hunters get Farina to the site of her dreams on a massive frozen glacial valley, but a broken opening holds sacred secrets of the past, as well as old, corrupt shadows emerging...   If you want to, please head over to the Ironsworn Discord channel which you can find a link to on the Ironsworn website to get in on the playtesting!   ----mor...

A little late, but it's going to turn into 2 episodes of the playtest materials for the upcoming Ironsworn: Legacies from Shawn Tomkin instead of just the one bonus one for next week!   I am SUPER excited to be able to test this out, and if you want to, please head over to the Ironsworn Discord channel which you can find a link to on the Ironsworn website to get in on the playtesting!   In this ep...

Iorlas fights the wraith that rose in the ruins of the plaza in Fornost Erain and gains insight into the past. Going further in he traces the steps of Rangers who came before him, but one wrong step sends him deeper into the darkness...   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 genero...

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!   This month I'm joined by Meadow a.k.a. HowdyLoveDarlingM , an incredibly thoughtful TTRPG designer, actual play GM, performer, cosplayer, writer, singer, artist, Meadow does so much! We talk about her collection of games and how she...

After trumpeting a magical horn found in the burnt remains of the homestead, Iorlas has earned the trust of a majestic steed en route to Fornost Erain, the ancient keep and capital of Men from Ages past.   When he arrives, he finds it twisted and overgrown, treacherous and eerily abandoned, but of course trouble lurks within... Trouble in the form of evil Men and undead, but what is it that Gandal...

Welcome back to the monthly design diaries series of 2026 where I am holding myself accountable toward putting out more games.   For the first Design Diaries of the year that isn't about Gardens of Rust, I decided to go back to what was going to be the original Design Diaries episode of 2026... my two-player buddy cop TTRPG Decktectives.   In this game, the two players sit down and create a pair o...

Iorlas spends time recovering between the small community of Archet in the Chetwood and a visit to Bree, where he runs into Gandalf again. After hearing news of an attack on a homestead along the Greenway to the north, Iorlas assumes it must be Drustan and his allies, so he ventures slightly out of the way to investigate. He finds a wondrous item...   Learn more about The One Ring 2e by Free Leagu...

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!   This month I have the pleasure of talking with Brian Flaherty, AP performer, GM, sound designer, producer, game designer, and one of the founders of the Many Sided Media network with an insane lineup of TTRPG podcasts including: My F...

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...