Role Playing Public Radio

News : Get Zombies of the World and both Base Raiders supplements for $30 ! I will also be attending Go Play NW this month. I don’t have a schedule yet for games I will run yet but I will post on social media when I do. Stay tuned! Synopsis :The small town mystery is an old but still viable subgenre. From Murder She Wrote to Stranger Things, we can’t get enough of local citizens sleuth...

We recently finished posting Fallen Flag, a Red Markets campaign, so I got Caleb, David, Shaun, and Faust together to discuss it. We talk about everything from creating the enclave to individual character arcs. If you haven’t caught up with Fallen Flag, c heck out our campaign page , which links all of the episodes. I’ll get Tom and Aaron to discuss the campaign in a segment in a futur...

I recently spoke to Eli Kurtz, the man behind a new Kickstarter for a fantasy campaign setting for the Savage Worlds system. “The Blackwood is a fantasy setting inspired by folklore and high-flying martial arts action. It’s Grimm’s Tales meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon . It’s The Witcher  series meets Kung Fu Hustle . It’s Iron Monkey meets Brotherhood of the Wol...

News : We are running a giveaway of five copies of Rise of the Dungeon Master , a graphic novel biography of Gary Gygax. If you want to enter, post a picture of your favorite D&D character sheet in the comments or tweet it @rosspayton with the hashtag #DnDRPPRCharacterSheet. We will pick the winners on May 10. Synopsis : Running published (or canned) adventures is often fun but challenging. Da...

Jeff Barber, designer of Blue Planet and Upwind, stopped by recently so we caught up on how Upwind has been progressing. While the main game is done, Jeff is hard at work on the first campaign. Creating a new style for Upwind adventures and getting feedback from playtesters, has been challenging. I’ve been busy working on a freelance project, but I wrote a micro-game to take a break from it....

I interviewed Jim McClure, a game designer and fellow RPG podcaster, about his latest Kickstarter, Satanic Panic . It is a tabletop role playing game set in the fictional 1970’s and 1980’s where players take on the role of secret government agents tasked with combating the evils of tabletop. The players work as a team with the common purpose to contain, control, and eliminate the threats to our wo...

News : Arc Dream needs GMs to run games at Gen Con. Get awesome rewards like a Delta Green raid jacket! Check out the details here. Synopsis : With most of the RPPR crew out of town, Bill and I got together to discuss ways to add mini games inside a RPG. We’ve done it before in various RPPR games, but we haven’t fully explored the concept. Turning lock picking from a single skill roll...

I recently interviewed Dustin DePenning, a game designer who has published a new sci-fi RPG called Synthicide. We talk about the game’s mechanics, his background as a game designer, and more! If you’re interested in the game, you should check out its website to learn more.

News : To celebrate the release of the first episode of our first Base Raiders campaign, I have put the main book on sale! Get Base Raiders in print for 30% off! Synopsis :Instead of being lonely murderhobos, player characters can start and lead organizations in many games. Tom, Dan, and I discuss how to run a campaign about building an organization and how it differs from a standard campaign. The...

Do you want a career in tabletop games? Join our semi-esteemed panel of industry insiders as we discuss our own experiences building a career, along with tons of advice on what to do, and what not to do, when it comes to trying to turn your passion for games into the thing that pays your bills. This won’t just be a fun cheerleading panel about “following your dreams,” but rather...

I recently spoke to Red Hook Studio co-founder, Chris Bourassa about the hit video game, Darkest Dungeon . We’ve spoke about this game before on the podcast. It’s a fascinating mix of Lovecraftian horror, team management, and brutal dungeon crawling. I’ve quite enjoyed it. Find out what plans Red Hook has for Darkest Dungeon, what Chris has learned about game design while working...

News : RPPR is going to PAX South. Tweet @rosspayton if you want to meet up. Synopsis : Murphy’s Rules are a long standing tradition in RPGs. The rules of the game have unintended consequences and can be interpreted in ways that create…unique situations. I created a list of some Murphy’s Rules from this thread on the SA forums so I could share them with you and Caleb. We talk abo...

News : The Mixed Six Patreon is up! Please check it out. The Mixed Six is now on iTunes as well. Synopsis : Many gamers have a tough time grasping the power of Fate rule systems and player disadvantages in general. Aaron, Shaun, and I discuss how Fate aspects work by using anime and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure as a lens to examine how it works best. Character flaws make for better storytelling,...

The Mixed Six website is now up! We are currently submitting the podcast to iTunes and all other podcast services. If you enjoy The Mixed Six please subscribe to it on your podcasting app of choice . Caleb has also started a Patreon to support The Mixed Six. Oatmeal Stout by Free State Brewing Company AND El Gose by Avery : In this week’s Dissecting Our Fun, Spence and Caleb talk about Cargo Noir...

Welcome! Spencer, Caleb, and Producer Ross are trying something new. On The Mixed Six, we drink six beers and have six conversations. It’s a variety show that slurs its speech, and we’d love to get some feedback on it. Beer 1 : Professional Drinking with Mother’s Brewing Company’s Imperial Three Blind Mice. Spence and Caleb talk about how this is all a tax dodge for their a...

News : Puppetland is now out! I wrote two adventures for it and we will do an actual play of it in the near future. Stay tuned. Also, Faust has moved to Washington so he can work for Camouflaj and we wish him the best of luck! Synopsis : Caleb and I discuss the challenges and rewards of recording games, either for podcasting or sharing with the community, or just for posterity’s sake. Techni...

We finished season 1 of Dan’s Dresden Files campaign so it’s time to talk about how it went. This campaign was unique because Dan managed to wrangle two separate groups of players into a single plot line that escalated as the game progressed. We talk about how that worked and what we thought about the Dresden Files RPG game mechanics. If you want to learn more about running Fate system...

Sponsor : Upwind is being Kickstarted right now! Check out the campaign and back it today. Synopsis : Jeff Barber has been working on Upwind and its Kickstarter since our first interview, so I checked in with him to see how the design of the game has progressed and what Jeff has learned about Kickstarter when preparing his campaign for it. We discuss the current state of crowdfunding for tabletop...

Sponsor: Upwind the fantasy RPG is now on Kickstarter! Back it today and help us reach a stretch goal so Ross can write a full campaign for Upwind. News : Two new Base Raiders PDF supplements are out: Exemplar is a new villain and Glitched Reality adds new powers usable by any character. Synopsis : Caleb and I discuss the lack of fantasy elements in many fantasy RPGs. It is very common for games l...

For the first time, we actually scheduled an official meetup and panel for RPPR fans at Gen Con. Most of the RPPR crew showed up and a TON of fans did as well. We played a few games, answered questions, talked about the podcast, game design, and of course had a Ross Payton Horrible Monster impersonation contest. Enjoy!

Tom Church conducts another interview, this time with Kory Bing , writer and artist of the webcomic Skin Deep.   This webcomic has been a favorite of Tom’s for many years, and actually takes place in RPPR’s hometown of Springfield, MO!  Tom and Kory discuss many issues, such as releasing a webcomic, running a Patreon, and possible RPG ideas for her unique story setting.    

Red Markets is a game of economic horror that wrapped up on Kickstarter in June. Come listen to the creator answer questions about the book’s progress & tell us how your beta tests are going. Caleb and Ross recorded this panel at Gen Con 2016.

Caleb’s Delta Green campaign, God’s Teeth , has been concluded but there’s still a lot to talk about. From the opening raid on the orphanage to Working Group Masticate’s last scene, we discuss what worked in the game and what didn’t. How did the new rules for Delta Green, like bonds and crippling injuries affect the campaign? Caleb also explains how he came up with ev...

Learn simple things every player can do to get better dice role outcomes. Why do dice do what they do? Identify those features and what you can do to exploit them to your advantage, without cheating! This panel was hosted by industry legend Louis Zocchi at Gen Con 2016. Check out Gamescience’s site if you want some of their fine products.

I recently interviewed Monte Cook about his latest Kickstarter, an ambitious deluxe fantasy RPG called Invisible Sun . It is still under development but promises “A game of surrealistic fantasy, secrets, and magic played both at the table–and away from it.” Curious about its game mechanics and features, I talked to Monte for an hour about how the game came to be, how it plays, an...