Role Playing Public Radio

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...

Tides of Doom, part of In Search of Adventure Run at Visioncon. Synopsis: The village of Crafthaven has awoken an ancient evil buried underneath. Can the brave heroes stop the cult from completing its ritual? Oh, and this dungeon isn’t just filled with Lovecraftian monsters. It corrupts all who spend time in it. Even the poor halfling paladin who becomes a freakish hunchback by the end of th...

Synopsis: Every gamer has their own expectations at the gaming table. Most of the time, everyone has similar enough expectations that they can all enjoy the same game but this isn’t always the case. How do you deal with people who seem to have mutually exclusive expectations of a RPG? Ultra realism or cinematic action? High fantasy or hard sci fi? We discuss how to collaborate and compromise...

4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons The New World Campaign- NSFW! GM: Ross Payton Players: Tom, Cody, Jason and Dan Synopsis: The adventurers have gained some new friends, a tribe of grippli. They’ve also made some new enemies, the thieves guild.  Furthermore, a horde of goblins has arrived in the new world, their massive hulk anchored in the bay. The goblins seem content to work as laborers fo...

Synopsis: Open-ended or Sandbox games can be extremely fun but it requires a lot of work on the part of both the GM and the players. Our friends over at the Bearswarm recorded an episode about sandbox games recently but we thought we would give it a shot (and neither of us has listened to it yet). Also, we have four anecdotes in this episode, including the legend of the nautical druid – writ...

The New World a 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Session 2 Players: Tom, Cody and Dan IMPORTANT NOTE: This game is full of profanity, even by our standards. This is very much NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Synopsis: The kingdoms of the old world have discovered a vast new continent across the ocean. Brave settlers have started the first colony in the net world. Among them, a small band of adventurers...