Role Playing Public Radio

We revisited the saga of Baron von Kharkov, the vampiric man-panther (Manther for short), in the Dungeon magazine #50 adventure “Felkovic’s cat”. We also review Immortal: The Invisible War, a strange game of World of Darkness-ish terminology and bizarre metaphysics. Find out what whisperballs are and other esoteric secrets. This is one of my favorite episodes because there’...

Maps are an essential part of tabletop RPGs. Who doesn’t love poring over a campaign map or fighting a massive set piece battle on a custom battle map? I talked to Joe at Heroic Maps about RPG map making. I recently collaborated with Joe to make a Mothership scenario available on both of our Patreons as a free download. We talk about what makes for a good RPG map and how to avoid some mistak...

In this episode, we focus on a single D&D adventure called The Immortal Storm. This is a crazy scenario, designed for godlike PCs. It involves messing with stars, traveling to a dimension of sheet music and 1986 Manhattan. We also talked about Far West and Ken Whitman, both of whom are still around, 10 years later. Join the RPPR Patreon to get access to more episodes of After Hours, full RPG s...

Ross Payton, Ennie Award winning host of Role Playing Public Radio, Caleb Stokes of Delta Green Dead Channels , Ethan Cordray of T echnical Difficulties Podcast , and Zach Reeves of Pretending to be People podcasts have years of experience creating, running, and promoting podcasts. Running a podcast is very rewarding but challenging and time consuming. Learn what pitfalls to avoid and the best way...

Caleb reviews Bad Medicine for Dr. Drugs, Aaron tries to explain Mekton Zeta mecha construction rules, I use a plot from the master fantasy plot generator and we talk about Bob Ross on Twitch.tv. Oh and there’s some discussion of Dragon #136 and Grimtooth’s Traps! If you enjoyed this episode and want more, there are over 10 years of bonus podcast episodes waiting for you on the RPPR Pa...

Writing a good mystery for a RPG can be tough to accomplish but it’s not impossible. Get tips from Ross Payton and Caleb Stokes on writing a great whodunit in your game! Threading the line between making the investigation too easy and too hard can be difficult, but we have enough experience to make it easier for you. This panel was recorded at Gen Con 2025. Check out Delta Green Dead Channel...

In 1968, in response to sinister influences that threatened to corrupt America from within and without, the Federal Government established a new agency – one that quickly acquired a reputation for ambitious operations overseas, for covert action, and for doing what had to be done, no matter the cost. This new agency was the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the BNDD. And within it – the for...

Alpha Omega is a Shadowrun-esque heartbreaker that covers a lot of territory. Its Wikipedia entry notes that its major claim to fame was the ARG/fake conspiracy theory called Ethan Haas was Right, which was briefly thought to be part of the Cloverfield viral marketing campaign. It got a lot of things right and a lot of things so very wrong. We also talk about conspiracy theorists and the Conspira-...

Aaron, Dan, Tom, and I discuss an adventure for Rogue Trader. It’s called Soul Reaver and Aaron has no knowledge of the 40k setting, which makes him the perfect reviewer for this adventure. We then devolve into madness, thanks to random roll tables in Mutant Chronicles, System Failure, Immortal: The Invisible War, and fan-created critical hit tables for Warhammer Fantasy. RPPR News : Get 20%...

Gen Con 2025 was a blast and we saw a lot and played a lot of great games! I talk with Caleb, Tom, Aaron, Elle, and David about their experiences this year. I’ve included links below for games we discuss. RPPR News : I just posted my sixth original PDF, Alienation of the Flesh , I’ve made in the last year for the RPPR Patreon! To celebrate, I’ve created a new discount! Get 20% of...

I interviewed Rhodrick Magsino, author of ARKYVR at Gen Con 2025 about his new module. ARKYVR is a multimedia MOTHERSHIP 1E setting & toolkit to play documentary filmmakers in space. Equipped with only their camera gear, ARKYVRs will attempt to document life in space and expose corporate client atrocities while surviving the void’s unspeakable horrors. We talked about his inspiration for creat...

We review Judge’s Guild Journal #18, d20 Kazakhstan for System Armageddon,, Atlas Shrugged the third movie, and Arkham Knight’s terrible batmobile. This is a classic episode from the archives of the RPPR Patreon, now with improved audio quality. Enjoy! RPPR News : The price of our lowest tier on the RPPR Patreon is going up from $2 to $3 on October 10. Current subscribers will be grand...

Red Markets 2nd Edition is holding an open beta playtest for all of 2025. Come discuss the ongoing process! The new edition of the Profit System is more concise, more vicious, and closer than ever before. A panel of the game’s creators will take questions on the upcoming new edition or Red Markets in general. Caleb Stokes is the author of Red Markets, and he is joined by Ross Payton of Role Playin...

We review three RPG source books: Tarlkin’s Landing from Judge’s Guild, Earthshaker from TSR, and The Nightlife RPG by Stellar Games. We also discuss the gradual merging of bad movies like Samurai Cop and the Room into a schlock singularity and the future of bad-good movies. If you enjoy this episode, join the RPPR Patreon to get instant access to the full After Hours podcast collectio...

Shadowdark is a fantasy role playing game built on OSR design principles with several new mechanics, including a real time torch light rule and experience point rules that emphasize exploration over violence. I sat down with the game’s creator, Kelsey Dionne at Gen Con to discuss the game’s creation, its mechanics, and how Kelsey has been able to build a community for the game. Learn m...

We had a blast at Gen Con this year! We recorded a lot of panels and games this year but this live recording of RPPR was a highlight for sure. In this episode, members of the RPPR cast talk about their gaming highlights over the last year, plans for RPPR in the near future, and games we wish we could play but never can bring to the table. Plus a segment where listeners try to stump us about what w...

deadEarth is one of the weirdest RPGs I’ve seen. It features a d1000 mutation table. Back in 2015, Tom, Aaron, and I went up to St. Louis to catch the live Night Vale show. Before that though, we went through character creation in deadEarth. We also discuss deadEarth’s setting and starting adventure, Caleb shares his thoughts on the game, and we talk about Roar, the craziest goddamn mo...

I’ve written a new action horror RPG called Labyrinth Signal. It’s a d20-based system inspired by survival horror games like Silent Hill and Alan Wake. It uses an innovative combo meter mechanic for combat that adds tactical depth to fighting monsters and mitigates the swinginess of normal d20 fights. I talk about the mechanics and inspirations with Caleb. You can get the beta PDF on t...

We review Rifter #13, Palladium’s own magazine about their games. We also talk about headcanon, which is the idea of making your story behind a fictional story – like the cop wizards of Payday 2. This episode is from April 2015 but making fun of Palladium is timeless! If you enjoy this episode, join the Patreon to get access to all 10 years of After Hours! I’ve uploaded a beta of...

In this episode, we review Darktek, a supplement for Dark Conspiracy filled with odd gear choices, and Warrens of the Ratmen, a 3E supplement about ratmen and their warrens. We also talk about the Superbowl and 50 Shades of Grey.  This episode was originally posted in March 2015 so enjoy this blast from the past! News: You can now gift memberships to the RPPR Patreon! Share RPPR with your gaming f...

We’re celebrating 10 years of the RPPR Patreon by releasing the first year of the After Hours podcast on the public feed! You can listen to the very first episode of After Hours here on the main feed but until now, this episode has been Patreon exclusive. We’re looking at Ravenloft’s supplement on Darklords in this episode. Find out what a Manther is and his tragic backstory. Joi...

Have you heard of galvanized square steel, the Munger dorms or Dahir Insaat? Bridget, Caleb, Fae, and I explore weird architectural stories and videos on the Internet. This is a preview of Scheduling Snafu, a new series on the RPPR Patreon , where the RPPR cast discusses weird stuff we find on the Internet. This episode has been mirrored on Youtube so you can watch it and see what we saw during th...

Red Markets is back! Caleb has spent over a year playtesting and revising Red Markets, improving negotiation, combat, and other core mechanics for the game. He’ll be posting an open beta of the game on the Hebanon Games Patreon so you can download and play it yourself. We talk about the process of updating a game’s rules and I give an update on my next RPG, now titled Labyrinth Signal....

Do you struggle with writing RPG scenarios for your home group quickly? I’ve been writing scenarios for the RPPR Patreon so I’ve had to learn how to get a good scenario out without spending a lot of time on it. I’ve figured out a few tips that can help you. This episode is on Youtube with visuals to go along with the narration. News : I am writing scenarios for the RPPR Patreon &...

I interviewed the CEO of Free League Publishing, Tomas Härenstam at Gencon this year. We talk about Free League’s approach to creating games, current trends in RPG design, and their upcoming second edition of the Alien RPG. Learn more about Free League Publishing on their website.