RPGBOT.Podcast

Every RPG player knows the real game doesn't start when the dice hit the table. No, the real adventure begins when some nerds open a rulebook, stare at a character sheet, and argue about whether a Wookiee hacker with a moral crusade for droid rights is mechanically viable. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Quickstart series, the crew tackles FFG Star Wars RPG character creation in Fantasy Flight's Edg...

The party had a plan. The Fighter would kick in the door. The Rogue would sneak behind the enemy. The Cleric would prepare a healing spell. And the Sorcerer? The Sorcerer would spend six minutes explaining why Fireball is technically the safest solution to every problem, including diplomacy, stealth, and emotional growth. Because Wizards study magic… Warlocks borrow magic… But a D&D 5e Sorcerer is...

Randall: "So this is a Star Wars RPG where we're not Jedi, not heroes, and not important… we're basically the guy who owes Jabba rent." Tyler: "Correct. You're the reason bounty hunters have a 401k." Ash: "Finally! A system that understands my characters are emotionally complicated, morally questionable, and one hyperdrive failure away from eating space ramen." -The RPGBOT.Podcast cast, probably S...

We began this series asking a simple question: Is the Pugilist balanced? We continued by asking: How much damage is too much damage? Today we ask the only question left: At what point does the DM legally become a victim? Welcome to the finale of the guide to Optimizing the D&D 5e Pugilist, where the class doesn't just punch monsters, it punches D&D's encounter design. Across three episodes we've h...

Today the RPGBOT crew explains how to survive levels 1-4 without becoming a cautionary tale titled  "Local Wizard College Denies Knowing This Child." We discuss the best low level sorcerer spells, metamagic optimization, and other essentials for a low level Sorcerer build. Show Notes In this episode, the RPGBOT hosts dive into the chaotic beauty of the Dungeons & Dragons 5e sorcerer from levels 1-...

Last episode we discovered the Pugilist can punch above its weight class. This episode we discovered the Pugilist can punch above the entire encounter budget. Today on RPGBOT: One character becomes a professional wrestler air-dropping enemies from low orbit One character summons eldritch tentacles to commit mathematically irresponsible violence One character crits often enough to make the Rogue qu...

Every D&D party has that one character who brings a sword, one who brings a spellbook… and one who brings unresolved childhood issues and a willingness to fist-fight a dragon. Welcome to the Pugilist . Today we explore a popular D&D homebrew martial class fueled by bad decisions, Moxie points , and the medically concerning belief that exhaustion is just another resource pool . If the Barbarian is...

You know how every +1 sword in 5e feels like it came off the same enchanted assembly line? "Congratulations adventurer — your reward is… statistically adequate." This week, the crew grabs a metaphorical chisel, carves glowing symbols into that boredom, and asks: What if your weapon didn't just hit harder — what if it screamed cosmic philosophy while doing it? From axiomatic swords enforcing univer...

You know how most D&D characters are born fully formed at level one — parents dead, personality optional, and a backstory written five minutes before initiative? Yeah — not today. Today we're rolling childhood trauma on random tables, getting adopted by gnomes after fatal alchemy accidents, committing crimes we didn't commit, and possibly dying before Session One even starts. Because life path cha...

Join the RPGBOT crew as they wrap up their Pulp Cthulhu experiment — answering listener questions, unpacking mechanics, debating wizard builds, and confirming once and for all that Pulp Cthulhu is less "existential dread" and more "Indiana Jones punches Nazis with a jetpack." Show Notes The finale Q&A session closes out the RPGBOT Quickstart series on Pulp Cthulhu with a reflective, mechanics-focu...

Every tabletop party eventually meets the same terrifying monster: Not a dragon. Not a lich. Not even a gelatinous cube. No — it's the moment the GM says: "Okay… what do you say to the Duke?" Suddenly the barbarian who decapitated three ogres can't order soup, the bard becomes a hostage negotiator, and someone is Googling "how to Persuasion check in real life." This episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast d...

In the thrilling conclusion of the  RPGBOT.Pulp Cthulhu Actual Play , our heroes discover that Luck points are real, sanity is optional, and jetpacks are — scientifically speaking — extremely explosive plot devices. Bjorn steals the Necronomicon with telekinesis, Murray forgets who he is, everyone falls in love with the villain thanks to eldritch karaoke mind control, and the final boss fight is r...

Nothing says "pulp adventure" like pouring jet fuel into a moving car, chasing Nazis across the desert, watching a monocle explode off someone's face, and then accidentally triggering sanity-shattering cosmic horror before lunch. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Pulp Cthulhu Actual Play , Murray and Bjorn demonstrate that reckless engineering is a valid transportation strategy, grenades are a valid d...

Ritual spellcasting is the part of tabletop roleplaying games where wizards stop blowing things up for ten minutes and instead argue about chalk circles, incense pricing, and whether chanting counts as a somatic component if you're holding snacks. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, we dive deep into  D&D ritual casting mechanics , explore how Pathfinder and 5e ritual spells change encounter pa...

There are two ways to learn a tabletop RPG: read the rulebook… or get shot at on a collapsing train while chasing occult Nazis across North Africa. In this RPGBOT.Quickstart actual play of  Pulp Cthulhu , the crew demonstrates how cinematic pulp RPG sessions actually unfold — complete with relic thefts, hypnotized enemies, catastrophic dice rolls, and a physics-defying jetpack solution. If you've...

There are monsters in tabletop RPGs that exist to be fought, monsters that exist to be feared, and monsters that exist to make the Dungeon Master quietly whisper, "I hope you prepared spells with saving throws." Beholders fall squarely into that last category. This week on RPGBOT.Podcast, we're diving deep into Beholder-Kin — floating orbs of paranoia, laser violence, and architectural malpractice...

Death in Dungeons & Dragons is weird. Sometimes it's a tragic, character-defining moment that reshapes the campaign. Other times it's a minor inconvenience solved by rooting around in the cleric's pockets for a diamond and a receipt. In this episode, we crack open the lid on resurrection mechanics—how revivify, raise dead, and resurrection actually work, why death saving throws matter less than yo...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today's character creation lesson begins with basic geometry, escalates into psychic powers, and somehow ends with a pacifist circus bear being seriously considered as a build option. In this episode, we take the gloves off and actually make characters for Pulp Cthulhu —choosing archetypes, rolling stats, hoarding skill points like goblins, and discovering that...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast—where Unearthed Arcana comes to be lovingly examined, gently mocked, and occasionally asked,  "Buddy… are you okay?" Today we're cracking open the latest UA drop from Wizards of the Coast, featuring a Monk who does mystic stuff (but don't ask him what kind), a Paladin who took an oath against spellcasters yet somehow became their HR department, a Rogue whose entire jo...

At level 11, the Cleric stops being "the healer" and starts being "the department of cosmic corrections." Need a miracle? You've got it. Need a battlefield reorganized? Also you. Need the DM to quietly reconsider every encounter they prepped? Congratulations: you just prepared  Heroes' Feast and learned that your god's job description includes "professional problem solver, part-time artillery, ful...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today's lesson is simple: cosmic horror, but with punchable Nazis . If classic  Call of Cthulhu is about fragile academics discovering forbidden truths and immediately dying, Pulp Cthulhu is about kicking down the door, firing a shotgun at an elder god, and saying, "That all you got?" This episode is about concepts, themes, and vibes —the part of the game where...

Welcome back to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today we're talking about Plane of Elysium —the one afterlife that sounds so good the Dungeon Master has to invent mechanics to stop you from moving there permanently. It's paradise. Your needs are met. You're at peace. You're happy.  Too happy. In fact, if you stay too long, you might fail a Wisdom save and decide adventuring, heroism, and saving the mult...

Somewhere in the multiverse, a cleric just whispered "I prepared  Bless ," and three dice immediately rolled higher out of pure fear. Because clerics aren't "the healbot," they're the divine Swiss Army knife: buffer, debuffer, front-liner, artillery, investigator, walking lie detector, and occasionally the person who politely asks a demon to leave and the demon actually does. Today we're building...

Welcome to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where tonight we bravely attempt to eat the entire  Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting menu in one sitting. No tie-ins, no supplements, no "this was technically in Dragon Magazine once" nonsense: just the  official D&D settings , served tasting-menu style. From post-apocalyptic deserts where magic killed the planet , to punk fantasy with robot soldiers , to the sett...

Have you ever opened a published TTRPG adventure, read three chapters in, and thought:  "There is absolutely no way my players will do any of this" ? Welcome to Adapting Published TTRPG Settings , where the RPGBOT crew explains why modules are suggestions, railroads are imaginary, and your Big Bad will absolutely die three sessions early because someone invented an arcane nuclear device. Whether y...