Total Party Thrill: RPG Advice From Our Table to Yours

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss playing and GMing characters that are devoted to their chosen deity. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders keep on Trukkin’, and Eisenhorn demonstrates where there’s the Emperor’s will, there’s a way in the Character Creation Forge. (65m) Important Links: Ulisses Spiele Gen Con Panel: Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory announcements Teepublic: Home of the...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to play Half-Elves, now that they’re no longer simply half as good as elves. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, Arch-Militant Tranq faces down a dilemma, and The Dilettante dabbles a bit in every class in the Character Creation Forge. (47m) Important Links: The D&D 5E Dilettante Build (in alphabetical order): Barbarian 1 / Bard 1 / War Cleric 1 / Druid 1 / Eld...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane fill you in on the games, the people, and the podcasters they met at the industry’s foremost annual convention, and the Silent Knight spills blood without a sound in the Character Creation Forge. (57m) Important Links: Games we mention: Genesys from Fantasy Flight Games Legend of the Five Rings card game by FFG Wrath & Glory for Warhammer 40k by Ulisses Spiele Star Wars: Th...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane present a special primer on role-playing games: what are they, how do you play, and why would you want to? In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders split up to whip an army into shape, and Beginner’s Luck eases into RPGs in the Character Creation Forge. (61m) Important Links: Whelmed: The Young Justice Files Actual Play: “Relations” Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the qualities to look for in a good initiative system. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew proves truth is stranger than heresy, and the High Noon Duelist scratches an itchy trigger finger in the Character Creation Forge. (56m) Important Links: Unearthed Arcana—Greyhawk Initiative: the options that inspired this episode. Introduction to RPG Podcasting: The...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane make the case for making a group effort to think of your RPGs from a team perspective. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew gets their just reward (as a team), and the Rainmaker helps give her enemies the business in the Character Creation Forge. (60m) Important Links: Introduction to RPG Podcasting: The GenCon panel Shane is joining, hosted by The RPG Academy Teep...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to adapt events from the past into stories for your game. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew gets a funny feeling, and Blackbeard is a bit larger than life in the Character Creation Forge. (57m) Important Links: Introduction to RPG Podcasting: The GenCon panel Shane is joining, hosted by The RPG Academy Teepublic: Home of the TPT-shirt! Support the sh...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss ways to handle leveling up at your table and in your games. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew escape a storm only to get wrecked, and Iron Face has a deadly left hook and a winning smile in the Character Creation Forge. (54m) Important Links: Introduction to RPG Podcasting: The GenCon panel Shane is joining, hosted by The RPG Academy Teepublic: Home of t...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane finish off the last installment of the Player Personality series with a carefully planned discussion about tacticians. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew battles stormy weather, and The Showstopper drops the curtain in the Character Creation Forge. (57m) Important Links: Teepublic: Home of the TPT-shirt! Support the show on Patreon: Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the only way to keep the game going after a session ends: intersession communication. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew make a journey into hostile territory, and The Intercessor keeps the faith (on your behalf) in the Character Creation Forge. (51m) Important Links: Teepublic: Home of the TPT-shirt! Support the show on Patreon: Contact us: Twitter: @TPT...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane take a break from their usual antics to answer all your questions, introduce new content, and suffer through their first musical revue…er, review…in this supersized episode. And Baron Munchausen tells the tallest tales in the Character Creation Forge. (101m) Important Links: Patreon—Total Party Thrill: You’ve been asking for it, and it’s finally here! Help support new conte...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to handle broken oaths, failure, and eventual redemption. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew attends a shindig, and the Cursebreaker smashes arcane shackles in the Character Creation Forge. (67m) Important Links: Mourning Glory: The Annotated History of Brand Talandro, Part III: The final backstory and first character sheet for Inquisitor Brand, hoste...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the short-lived but beloved 2nd Edition D&D setting Planescape. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew finally lands a commercial opportunity, and Fall-From-Grace seals your fate with a kiss in the Character Creation Forge. (60m) Important Links: Mourning Glory: The Annotated History of Brand Talandro, Part I: The very polite initial interactions between I-Hs...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to get the most out of combat on a grid. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew finds a new world to despoil, and the Battlemapster makes the lay of the land in the Character Creation Forge. (67m) Important Links: Mourning Glory: The Annotated History of Brand Talandro, Part I: The very polite initial interactions between I-Hsien and Shane that would beco...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss ways to use and feature an aspect of RPGs that is easily overlooked: language. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the crew turn inward to their passenger manifest, and the Polyglot always has something to say in the Character Creation Forge. (55m) Important Links: Babel Fish: It knows an awful lot of languages. Teepublic: Home of the TPT-shirt! TPT #55: Warhammer...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to play gnomes, those tiny tinkers and tricksters. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, a real-life theft gets an explanation, and the Breachgnome holds the line against all comers in the Character Creation Forge. (66m) Important Links: A Very British Civil War: The alternative-history miniatures wargame setting with a stiff upper lip. “Here Comes the Hotstepper...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss one of gamemasters’ dirty little secrets: sometimes they ignore die rolls. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders run for their lives, and Clutch is ready to roll in the Character Creation Forge. (65m) Important Links: Unearthed Arcana—Revised Subclasses: WOTC’s second pass at a few previous Unearthed Arcana subclasses. Calvinball: This is why we hav...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the best ways to run and play in games with just two or three players. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders make a big mess, and the Halfling Rockslinger makes Tolkien purists proud in the Character Creation Forge. (63m) Important Links: WotC’s Dragon Talk podcast: Jeremy Crawford talks about passive Perception (in section 3). The Fellowship of the...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the RPG hobby’s pay-to-win model, power creep. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders explore a portable hole, and the Shadowed Stalker shows up where you least expect it in the Character Creation Forge. (67m) Important Links: Unearthed Arcana—Feats for Skills: Playtest options for specializing skills through feats. Unearthed Arcana—Feats for Races:...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to choose between specializing or expanding your character’s abilities. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders let a chance for escape go to their heads, and the Sandman lets the bedbugs bite in the Character Creation Forge. (63m) Important Links: Unearthed Arcana—Downtime: The latest playtest options. Teepublic: Home of the TPT-shirt! TPT #55: W...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the best ways to eject the worst players from your game. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders perform some jailhouse reconnaissance, and the Gray Guard is on a mission from god in the Character Creation Forge. (64m) Important Links: Unearthed Arcana—A Trio of Subclasses: The latest playtest options for the Monk, Paladin, and Ranger. Teepublic: Home...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane continue their series on player profiles with the most narratively-focused gamer: the storyteller. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders meet some unlikely allies, and the Bardic College reminds us that students ruin everything in the Character Creation Forge. (53m) Important Links: Unearthed Arcana—Starter Spells: The latest playtest options for Cantrips a...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to introduce, play, and possibly kill off beloved familiars, friends, and followers. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the Rogue Traders beat a hasty retreat, and The One Man Band makes an entourage of their own in the Character Creation Forge. (63m) Important Links: Unearthed Arcana—Wizard Revisited: The latest playtest options for this class. Teepublic: Hom...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane examine the most popular movie franchise of all time, Star Wars, as a roleplaying game setting. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, make a disturbing discovery, and he’s coming, he’s coming, he’s coming in this special April Fool’s Day Character Creation Forge. (63m) Important Links: George Washington (YouTube): Inspiration for this week’s Character Creation Forge Manifest...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to change in-game names and descriptions to match character concepts and story elements. In the Dynasty Unwarranted campaign, the party goes on its first away mission, and don’t look too closely at Captain America’s shield in the Character Creation Forge. (60m) Important Links: Teepublic: Home of the TPT-shirt! D&D Beyond: the digital tools beta is live! Unearth...