Total Party Thrill: RPG Advice From Our Table to Yours

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane continue their series on player profiles with one of the most difficult to engage: the casual gamer. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party learns a dangerous name, and the Old Man of the Mountain seeks primeval truth in the Character Creation Forge. (57m) Important Links: Shane’s Livetweet of Acquisitions, Inc. Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythrill@gmail...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane talk about worldbuilding with one of the greats: Monte Cook, creator of Planescape, Numenera and the new RPG Invisible Sun. He talks about his sources of inspiration, breaking through creative lulls, and what it would take to get him back into Planescape (spoiler: it’s not money, but that couldn’t hurt). (56m) Important Links: Invisible Sun Kickstarter: Kickstarter ends Sep...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss clues, red herrings, and finally discovering whodunit! In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party solves a murder mystery of its own, and the Investigator in Vestments makes the collar while wearing one in the Character Creation Forge. (60m) Also, congratulations to our iTunes Review contest winner, revealed within. Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythri...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss what makes a good plot hook and share some of their own. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party gets a vote of confidence, and the Knife Fighter juggles blades and bonus actions in the Character Creation Forge. (53m) Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythrill@gmail.com Web: www.totalpartythrillcast.com

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss system mastery, the intimate knowledge of an RPG system. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party figures out how to move forward after a death in the family, and the Polymorph Fromage hammers home the point in the Character Creation Forge. (59m) Important Links: Pathfinder Horror Adventures Giveaway Contest Details Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartyth...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane get in touch with their giddy, inner-14-year-old selves as they discuss the grimdark sci-fi/fantasy setting Warhammer 40k and its RPG line from Fantasy Flight Games. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party uses a weapon of mass destruction with only minor unintended consequences, and the Space Marine Librarian channels his magical power to vanquish foes of the Emperor in...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the best four days in gaming, Gen Con 2016, including celebrity sightings, the 2016 ENnie Awards, and, of course, exciting new games. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party battles Merrix d’Cannith, and the Force Mage devotes himself to mastery of everyone’s favorite spell in the Character Creation Forge. (60m) Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythril...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the best ways to use and play characters that weren’t created by the players—whether found in the back of a sourcebook or carefully crafted by a GM. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party blows up an airship, and the Spell Duelist brings a staff to a swordfight—and wins—in the Character Creation Forge. (56m) Important Links: Our Gen Con Schedule –  Or drop us a l...

To celebrate a full year of Total Party Thrill, hosts I-Hsien and Shane talk with the creator of Eberron and the upcoming game Phoenix: Dawn Command. Keith talks about his favorite Eberron characters and his plans for the setting, the lore (and release date!) of Phoenix: DC, worldbuilding, the Dungeon Master’s Guild, his GenCon schedule, and more. (83m) Keith’s Inspiration Recommendations: Mr. Rob...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to play everyone’s favorite pointy-eared perfectionists. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party drops in on the City of Towers, and the Wildrunner loses her cool in the Character Creation Forge. (53m) Please vote for us for Best Podcast for the 2016 ENnie Awards. Voting ends today, April 21. Follow this link: http://www.ennie-awards.com/vote/2016/ballot.php?c...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how drawbacks and weaknesses create depth and offer role-playing opportunities. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party stalks a foe across Sharn, and the Executioner takes a lot off the top in the Character Creation Forge. (53m) Please vote for us for Best Podcast for the 2016 ENnie Awards. Voting ends April 21. Follow this link: http://www.ennie-awards.com/vote/...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to plan and run killer storms, city-leveling earthquakes, and uninsurable acts of God. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party makes a promise they might not be able to keep, and the War Correspondent records it all for posterity in the Character Creation Forge. (52m) Please vote for us for Best Podcast for the 2016 ENnie Awards. Voting ends April 21. Follow t...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how metagaming and out-of-character knowledge get used and misused at the table. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party calls in a favor from the heavenly host, and the Swordmage shields the party in the Character Creation Forge. (52m) Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythrill@gmail.com Web: www.totalpartythrillcast.com

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane continue their series on player profiles with the Specialist — players who love a single archetype. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party finishes an old foe, and the Hoplite fights in the shade in the Character Creation Forge. (55m) Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythrill@gmail.com Web: www.totalpartythrillcast.com Total Party Thrill: RPG Advice From Our...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss combat encounters where the enemies are much larger than your average PC. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party makes an impromptu trip to an unexpected place, while the Giant Killer cuts her foes down to size in the Character Creation Forge. (63m) DM’s Guild Review: Visions of the Vault, Volume 1, a collection of five new magic items by Arcana Games, available...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to create, use, and fulfill prophecies — those enigmatic and prescient riddles. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party fights a reincarnating dracolich, and the Combat Oracle predicts victory in the Character Creation Forge. (53m) Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythrill@gmail.com Web: www.totalpartythrillcast.com Total Party Thrill: RPG Advice F...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss one of their favorite techniques for starting new campaigns off on the right foot: session zero. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party takes a break for a well-deserved shopping trip, and the Fist of the Forest becomes one with her environment in the Character Creation Forge. (56m) DM’s Guild Review: Blood Hunter, a new class for D&D 5E by Critical Role’s Matt M...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss one of the newest and most controversial D&D races. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party works through the last prophecy to discover their final objectives, and the Talon of Tiamat brings dragons to heel in the Character Creation Forge. (54m) DM’s Guild Review: Blood Hunter, a new class for D&D 5E by Critical Role’s Matt Mercer, available on the DM’s Guild. Con...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss how to run, retool, and reuse published adventures. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party gets its last (and most lyrical) prophecy, and the Juggernaut breaks everything but the rules in the Character Creation Forge. (53m) DM’s Guild Review: The Lightborn, a new race for D&D 5E by Mark Hulmes, available on the DM’s Guild. Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: tot...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane tour an America that never was, a land of ghosts, guns, and grim realities called the Weird West. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party jumps out of the frying plane and into the fire elemental, and the Two-Fisted Archaeologist whips it good in the Character Creation Forge. (60m) Important Links: AcadeCon 2016 Kickstarter ends soon! Please support an excellent local con...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane talk about designing the iconic locations of fantasy RPGs: dungeons. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party plots a reverse-heist deep within the Pit of Five Sorrows, while the Berserker Priest leaves a trail of divine destruction in his wake in the Character Creation Forge. (60m) Important Links: Shawn Ellsworth of Tribality.com interviewed us. He must have gotten us co...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane talk about making and using maps in your game, from a planetary atlas all the way down to hex crawls and 5-foot squares. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party plans a dragon-sized jailbreak, and the Pathfinder blazes a trail in the Character Creation Forge. (66m) Important Links: AcadeCon 2016 Kickstarter is live! Please support an excellent local convention in Dayton,...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane continue their series on player profiles with the Method Actor. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party learns one of the party members’ long-held secrets as the adventure continues in Argonnessen, the continent of dragons. Meanwhile, in the Character Creation Forge, the Iron Archer soaks up heaps of damage as she wades into melee combat with bow in hand. (55m) Important...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss preparing for a session before walking through Shane’s actual prep for an upcoming session. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party gets their first glimpse of the dragon-filled continent of Argonnessen, while the Adventurous Noble ups the ante in the Character Creation Forge. (84m) Important Links: AcadeCon 2016 Kickstarter is live on April 21st. Contact us: Twit...

Hosts I-Hsien and Shane discuss the joys of games set in the big city, from street brawls to palace intrigue. In the Mourning Glory campaign, the party returns to the lands of the living, and nature calls the Shaman–or maybe the other way around–in the Character Creation Forge. (50m) Contact us: Twitter: @TPTcast Email: totalpartythrill@gmail.com Web: www.totalpartythrillcast.com Total Party Thril...