Roleplay Rescue

Just had a weird moment typing "2020" into the date field for the episode tags. Are we really here? This one's a cool conversation with the artist behind my recent Artefact Cards and several successful Kickstarter campaigns. Many RPG creators will appreciate his work and it was an honour to catch up with him in his studio just before the New Year. The sound is sometimes patchy but what James has t...

This one's unashamedly personal and open. I have begun to come to terms with a sense of being wrong about the roleplaying hobby and decided to tackle that sense of wrongness with some experimentation. This is probably one of those "important moments" which, in actual fact, was probably facilitated by my awareness of you guys out there listening. Without you guys, I doubt I would have grasped this...

Last one for 2019, folks. This is another one of my rough and raw collections of random gamer musings. You should listen with caution and understand that the Diary is very personal, something not for the faint hearted. In this episode, there's a lovely call-in from Jason and then me bumbling about in the run-up to Christmas Eve. Game on! Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: pa...

I want to begin an ongoing discussion about getting started with tabletop roleplaying games by talking about some things you definitely should NOT do - even though I and most other GMs almost always seem to do them - if you want to get a good game going. Because I am a teacher - someone who knows that the human brain tends to ignore negative instructions - I am going to turn those negative stateme...

Merry Christmas to everyone! As we close in on the Western celebration of the Nativity, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has supported and listened to the show in 2019 - thank you! On top, you can hear Frank T's call-in about Monster Manuals. Then we dive into my exploration of Pathfinder 2e, a lot of musing about why I buy and read RPGs, and finishing with a Traveller proposal. As ever, it'...

Gribsnak grabs the mic. An email about GM Accreditation from Luderati. Call-in from Evil Jeff. Reports from Thaarl. Unboxing some boxes. Oh, and running down a side-track. As ever, this is raw and unedited journalling from my personal RPG hobby. Listen with caution! Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD Contact Details: Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message...

A bunch of call-ins which inspired me, a long reading from one of my favourite RPG gaming books, and a dollop of my random musings makes this episodes a wild mash-up of ideas... and I am desperately hoping it hangs together. This one's unscripted, not very well thought-through, and unapologetically all I've got this week. Hope you find something useful in here. Game on! The Angry GM's book: theang...

Three very welcome call-ins from the community to lead us into the diary of the week past. This was the week in which work got VERY intense, the UK had a General Election, and I almost lost my mind. Salvation came in the form of a Saturday night online game in the Dungeons of Thaarl. Once again, it's me warbling on - rough, largely unedited, and very candid. Listen at your peril! Dear Diary Theme...

Tim Shorts is responsible for this one: he laid down a challenge to the Anchorites to revisit an episode from December 2018 and allow it to inspire a retrospective... so, here's mine. I've gone back and listened to Ep103, "On Rediscovery & Roots" from Season 1. This episode revisits the recipe for an Open Table game that I talked about last year, updates you on the journey I've been on through...

Another collection of diary entries and call-ins from the week past. Opening with a big question on trust, we delve into the raw and unedited ramblings from my past week. Plenty to reflect on for me but do remember: this is a pretty raw and rough ramble. Game on! Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD Contact Details: Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message Em...

All the talk across several Anchor podcasts about Fighting Fantasy got me thinking this week. I've been messing around with the idea of playing one or two of those game books and it occurred to me that this was a great way back the table for anyone who's having trouble making a start. Featuring call-ins from Jason Connerley and ShandyAndy, both offering some great general tips on coming back to ga...

Continuing on from DM's Diary #9, I share thoughts on Reich 5 inspired by a popular TV series, get excited about Fighting Fantasy for the first time in about 25 years, and reveal a "Special Project" that got teased in DMD#9. Game on! Dear Diary Theme Song and all incidental music by TJ Drennan: patreon.com/TJD dPercentile Podcast: anchor.fm/dave-aldridge Contact Details: Voice Message: anchor.fm/r...

Another collection of gaming thoughts from my mind rampage into the ether... but not before Tim and Josh lay some cool NPC tips at my feet. A call in from Jason reminds me why my Naked GURPS project is cool, and I drop a spoiler for players in my Dungeons of Thaarl campaign. Oh, and this episode ran out of time so there's another coming tomorrow. Game on! Dear Diary Theme Song and all incidental m...

This week I want to revisit a few thoughts on how to make a start in coming back to the roleplaying game table. I also wanted to do something that I believe is a first for Roleplay Rescue - to build an episode almost entirely around the call-ins that I have received following last Saturday’s very popular episode 505, "Never Go Back?"  It seems fitting that we periodically revisit the core que...

This episode features about 20 minutes of Friday Night's session in which Andy, Dave, and myself sat down to play a one-off Dungeons of Thaarl game using my cobbled together quick start "Naked GURPS" approach for beginning a dungeon fantasy type game. It's raw and unedited. There's loads of background noises. But, overall, I hope that it gives anyone curious about the stuff I talked about in DM's...

Had a couple of really good call-ins this week in response to DM Diary #7 - thank you, sincerely, to those callers! Given that these calls and the replies plus entries over the past two days were enough to (over)fill another episode, I felt it was best to release this one quickly. There's a nice cameo from my wife, Mrs W, in which she shares her commentary on collecting RPGs. Hope you enjoy! Dear...

Why do people give up their hobbies? Should you ever go back? Is trying to recapture the past simply a big mistake? This episode is having a think about the phenomenon of giving up hobbies and the value of reclaiming them years later. As I think I’ve said before, my biggest bugbear is seeing people give up playing tabletop roleplaying games and never quite returning to the table. Is there anything...

Mid-way through the week and I've already racked-up a whole 25 minutes or so of DM's Diary content. I thought I'd better kick it out and share it before tomorrow's work day eats my energy and the weekend looms. As ever, this is my unedited audio diary and the quality varies wildly... not to mention, it's unashamedly personal - you have been warned! Oh, and there's a rather weird tale about my Old...

Forced myself to edit together this week's episode. Not feeling good after a very rough work week and missing this last weekend's online game. :-( Dear Diary Theme Song and all incidental music by TJ Drennan: patreon.com/TJD Contact Details: Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message Email: hello@rpgrescue.com Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Role...

Jason Connerley is the voice behind the Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast podcast and a regular caller to several Anchorite shows, including this one. Jason started gaming around 1983 with the "Dungeon!" board game by David Megarry. His first RPGs were the Mentzer Red Box D&D Basic set and the original TSR Marvel Super Heroes RPG. Hailing from Virginia, USA, he’s a family man and, judging from the backg...

Remember: Dungeon Master's Diary is my unashamedly personal and raw recorded audio diary entries mashed up to create a rough outline of  what's going on in my gaming head. Listen at your peril! That said, there's some GREAT call-ins in this one... especially the one from Goblin's Henchman! Game on! Dear Diary Theme Song and all incidental music by TJ Drennan: patreon.com/TJD Contact Details:...

Remember when Frank T called in and suggested we work on our own version of GURPS Ultralite? This is the audio conversation - back and forth - that we had a few weeks back and which led to a whole raft of further writing, thinking, and chatting. Not sure it's of interest to everyone, so I'm sticking it out as a bonus episode. Enjoy! Rescue Theme Song and all incidental music by TJ Drennan: patreon...

Diving head first into an experimental approach which seeks to open up discussion around some pretty big questions that relate to our tabletop roleplaying game passion. Today’s question was chosen simply by way of piloting the format. We are hoping that listeners will call in and suggest new and better questions for our panel to answer. What’s that, I hear you ask, a panel? Yes, today I want to be...

My week has been all over the place and this DM's Diary is a little shorter than usual. Hear my initial thoughts on the second session of the Friday Night Game plus a lengthy fessing-up on my beliefs and feelings around magic. I also (rather cheekily) include a recording from a visit to the Royal Armouries in Leeds in which we hear the final confrontation between Dracula and Van Helsing... sort of...

First of a couple of interviews I've managed to record over the past week or so, this one with Doug Cole of Gaming Ballistic is on the topic of why GURPS is a game worth looking at and what the Dungeon Fantasy RPG offers the curious onlooker. Doug creates licensed products for both the DFRPG and The Fantasy Trip, giving us an excellent insight into the world of gaming with 3d6 that is hard to get...