Roleplay Rescue

What do you do when, as a GM, you have nothing prepped and you are staring down the barrel of a session? You’ve had two weeks to prep but no, you couldn’t bring yourself to sit down and make any notes, so now you have nothing? Isn’t it just easier to bail out, make your excuses, and try again next time? Today, I want to talk about how to do emergency prep. Thanks to Karl and Jason for the call-ins...

In what is one of the most creative activities in the human sphere, why do we outsource our creativity to others? Over the past 40 years or more I have spent countless hours and thousands of pounds buying, reading, and trying to use the untold prescriptions for roleplaying available on the market… and not one of them has matched my needs or desires for very long. The desire for the kind of enterta...

Hello Rescuers! Finally managed to pull together a call-in bonus episode, featuring messages from Jason, Brian, Evil Jeff, and Barney! Thanks to those guys for sending in their thoughts. Hope this is of interest and please consider joining in with your questions or comments. Game on! Roleplay Rescue Details: Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:  Tale of The Manticore...

How do you deal with the great Terror Phantom, the question of what will people think? How can we overcome the social anxieties around running and playing in roleplaying games? Where do we even begin? Big thank you to Jason for the call-in! Game on! Roleplay Rescue Details: Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:  Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dra...

What happens if we embrace combat as the focus of the roleplaying game? Is it possible to make fighting enjoyable? And what difference does it make to use miniatures and maps? Around the turn of the century, while I was working on Games Day in the U.K., I was lucky enough to be invited to get involved in playtesting several projects. The one I want to mention today is Inquisitor. But, in addition,...

Growing up, I was introduced to tabletop hex-and-chit board wargames from a very early age. The source of my wargaming roots came from my father’s interest but I have never been entirely clear on how he got involved. While I delved off into roleplaying games around sometime around 1980, Dad has always been a wargamer and this was an interest that served as an anchor home through most of my life.&n...

What would happen if I took the Classic hexcrawl game structure, Rob Conley’s revised Wilderlands of High Adventure hex maps, the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game rules, Doug Cole’s excellent Delvers To Grow quick character creation templates, and the forthcoming Nordland Bestiary, also produced by Doug Cole’s Gaming Ballistic? Well, I want to find out. Thank you to Frank, Brian, and Jason for the...

Today I have a short rant on the idea that what we do, each of us, is inherently valuable. My assertion is that whatever we do - individually or collectively - as gamers, friends, and curious onlookers, it all has value. It’s valuable because you made it. Because you thought it. Because you shared it with us. We might not like it, agree with it, or want it… but you gave of yourself. It’s valuable...

Talking about five steps that lead to lasting joy, how to apply this to roleplaying games, and what I've learned from ADD/ADHD experts Edward Hallowell and John R. Ratey. It's a call to get back to the real reasons I got into roleplaying in the first place. Thanks to Richard, Brian, Trev, and Jason for the call-ins! Game on! Delivered From Distraction book from Amazon.co.uk here: https://www.amazo...

Signal boost for #RoleForCharity! Link for #RoleForCharity t-shirt: https://rphaven.co.uk/product/roleforcharity  Text of this episode: Tabletop Role-Playing Games Industry comes together to support NHS Charities Together in #RoleForCharity The Role Play Haven has teamed up with a whole host of UK publishers to raise money for NHS Charities Together through a bespoke charity t-shirt fundraise...

Having talked a lot about playing games with the rules behind the GM's screen, the GM rolling the dice, and the players encouraged to be in-role and in descriptive mode, I decided to dive into an experiment to find out how that might work. This episode shares part of our Session 6 conversation reviewing the player's experiences so far and reflecting back their thoughts on the Northern Isles game w...

What’s our role in this roleplaying game? How do we fit into the team? And what kind of expectations am I holding for the group? Talking about the struggles I face in coming up with decent character ideas - in finding my role at the table - as well as reflecting on the nature of the roleplaying group as a team. Also talking a little bit about opening up the table. Thanks to Rob (aka Menion) and Ja...

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? How do you react when you feel stuck? And what’s stopping you from doing what you need to do in the first place? I want to share a message a listener wrote to me and I want to talk about the impact it had. From there, I have a few thoughts on how to unstick myself and I’m hoping that you’ll find some value in those ideas too. Many thanks to the caller...

How do you get a regular game started? Why is it that, very often, I quickly get overwhelmed by anxious panic? How can I keep playing long enough to enjoy the game I want to play? Turns out it's pretty simple. Many thanks to the callers: Jason, Runeslinger, Spencer, Karl, and emailer Micheal - your generosity is appreciated! Game on! Roleplay Rescue Details: Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from...

Hailing from Portsmouth, Virginia, Christopher R. Rice is constantly writing, tinkering with, and running GURPS. A frequent contributor to Steve Jackson Games’ Dungeon Fantasy and Pyramid, if he's not writing for GURPS, he's blogging about it. His site “Ravens N' Pennies” is well-stocked with more GURPS goodies than you could shake a stick at. This time we're talking about his March 2021 release,...

Why do most gamers prefer the regular kind of roleplaying game? What do you do if you want something more? And what can we say to the majority who tell us we are playing bad wrong fun? Welcome to the regular kind of roleplaying game... which I no longer wish to play. Big thanks to Rob (aka Menion) for the call-ins! Roleplay Rescue Details: Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Mantic...

What would happen if I just started a new season with very little in the way of a plan? Well… we’re about to find out. Big thanks to today's callers: Menion (aka Rob), Brian, and Jason C. Roleplay Rescue Details: Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean....

Here's a bonus episode featuring and interview with Christopher R. Rice talking about the soon-to-be-published Dungeon Fantasy Thieves book for GURPS. It's a good listen, even if you're not into GURPS... but it's gold for those who are. Hope you enjoy! Game on! Big thanks to Christopher R. Rice for talking about it. Check out his Patreon here: Christopher R. Rice is creating Role-Playing Games and...

In November 2021 I am once again shaving off my beard and growing a moustache in solidarity with my MoBros across the world. I am inviting you to help me turn this into a fundraising event for Movember. I am supportive of Movember because of their multi-faceted approach. What particularly appeals is their efforts in working toward a world where men and boys are comfortable having conversations abo...

As promised, this is the final episode of Season 9. The plan is to collate and respond to the call-ins that I have received over the past six weeks or so. I am hugely grateful to the generously shared questions and comments that come from you - the listeners. Thank you for taking the time to listen to Roleplay Rescue; thanks also to the many many listeners who keep downloading the episodes and giv...

What do you do when you realise that you don’t want to play the way that most other people are playing? Do you give up, say `that’s it, I’m done”? It’s tempting. It’s easier. Or do you double down, accept you are different, and play on regardless? Thanks to Barney from Loco Ludus for his call-in. Game on! Roleplay Rescue Details: Roleplay Rescue Theme Song by TJ Drennon and incidental music by Jon...

In 1986, the Professor Emeritus of history and literature of religion at New York University wrote that, “There are at least two types of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.” The author was James Carse and he has something rather useful to teach us about roleplaying games...

Ever since I can remember, a big part of my hobby experience has revolved around combat - martial and magical combat against the foes of our characters. When I was a teenager, the older gamers called me a Munchkin and accused my games of being focused too much on combat and not including enough exploration or character interaction - the interaction sometimes erroneously being referred to as “rolep...

WARNING: This episode is intended for a mature audience. Listener discretion is advised. Topics of fear, horror, threat, illness, and general unpleasantness. As I headed out of the summer holiday period, I was fortunate to be able to record a sequence of intriguing conversations with people from across the community. Today you’ll be listening to the third and final conversation. This one is on the...

As I headed out of the summer holiday period, I was fortunate to be able to record a sequence of intriguing conversations with people from across the community. In this second conversation, I was invited to talk about Trickster's Net. Find the Trickster's Net website here: https://8743x.de/tricksters-netz Grab your copy of the final Trickster's Net product here: https://tricksters-net.itch.io/ Fur...