What makes a good city in a role-playing game? People, places, factions, rumors? We're going to be talking about that and bringing together your insights. This community discussion ranges widely but includes: tools for building cities, techniques for making cities feel alive, mapping, citybook resources, and more. While we don't follow my outline, you can see my planning doc here. 

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As the first installment in a series of episodes on improv tools at the gaming table, Ian & José are joined by Karen Twelves, the author of Improv for Gamers, to discuss how players can make and receive meaningful offers in TTRPGs.

Timecodes
0:04:37 Pick your Poison
0:24:25 What's an Offer?
0:31:17 Creating Offers and Listening for Them
0:36:53 Formal and Informal Ways to Offer
0:46:30 Offers that Endow Others
0:51:02 Nuancing Improv's Rules of Thumb
0:57:15 Prepping for Spontaneity
1:01:09 Ending Scenes
1:06:57 The Pressure to Make Something Happen
1:13:50 Pearl of Wisdom
1:16:10 Outro

Karen's Work
https://karentwelves.com/
Improv for Gamers

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Mastodon: @[email protected]

Our info:
Email: [email protected]
Music: https://lloydeaves.bandcamp.com/album/a-different-kind-of-hex

Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History looks at two related RPG systems. First Godlike, the World War II supers game that leans into realism and consistency. Second Wild Talents, the evolution of the systems from Godlike which can follow that history or be recast into a generic supers RPG. The hosts look at what both games do, their place in the history of gaming, and the influence of related comics media. They wrap that up general discussion, including what what's weird and what they dug.

If you dig this series, please rate, review, and subscribe.

Jay's the author of By Aecer’s Light, The Clockwinders for Fate, Cortex Prime's Supers, and a contributing author on Pathfinder’s Mwangi Expanse, Trophy Gold, Hit the Streets: Defend the Block, and the upcoming Lifted: Indomitable RPG, a supers game about everyday folks with extraordinary powers in a tech-aggressive world.

Check out Mad Jay's work at Play.Fearless and at the Diceology Podcast.

Lowell is the designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin. He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community.

You can find Lowell's work on YouTube, on Itch.io, and on DriveThruRPG.

Thanks to Rich Rogers for the edit of this episode.

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
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Our actual play podcast can be found here
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00:00 Intro
01:10 The Pitch
09:34 Gaming History
17:00 Comics & Media History
21:44 Thoughts

In this episode host Lowell Francis is joined by Kieron Gillen and Cat Rambo to talk about recent games, plans for future games, current writing projects, and more.

Kieron Gillen
Newsletter: buttondown.email/KieronGillen/
Comics: bindings.app/shelf/1FLv6kLb
Website: www.kierongillen.com
@kierongillen.bsky.social on BlueSky

Cat Rambo
https://www.catrambo.com/
Wayward Wormhole Workshop
@catrambo.bsky.social on BlueSky

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00:00 Introduction​
01:52 Kieron Gillen & Mythic Bastionland
11:42 Cat Rambo & Villa Encantata (still in design)
19:53 Lowell & Rapscallion
30:31 Upcoming Publications & Giving Me Life

A collection of favorite tabletop RPGs of 2025 from our community members. It's split into three sections, with host picks in-between.

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
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SPOILER
Dominik | Apocalypse Keys
Rae Nedjadi | Harvest
Alexander Marchant | Last Train to Bremen
Horst | Mystic Bastionland
Marc Majcher | Triangle Agency / Ultraviolet Grasslands
Mads | Trophy Dark
Anders | Sentinel Comics RPG
Kieron Gillan | Seven Part Pact
Mike Minutillo | The Watch
Jim Crocker | Band of Blades
Sean Smith | OD&D
Tea | Sundered Isles
Ferret | Promethean
Sherri | DIE
Jesse Ableman | Harvest
Will | Mystic Bastionland
Wyllora | Triangle Agency
Casey | Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast
Mike Ferdinando | Ultraviolet Grasslands
Alun Rees | Grimwild
Jex Thomas | Exile
Nat Knight | Blood Feud
Gerrit Reninghaus | Pizza Box
Lloyd Gyan | Daggerheart
Michele | Anamnesis
Guy Milner | You Must Leave This Party Alone
Rich Rogers | Smallville
Lowell | Writers' Room
Sina | Apocalypse Keys
Thomas Manuel | Last Train to Bremen, Impossible Landscapes, Harvest
Gabe | Mystic Bastionland
Will S | Triangle Agency
Michael D | Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast
Dom | Cats of Cthulhu
Shane | Oddfolk
Amanda Mullins | Numbskulls
Donogh McCarthy | Star Trek Adventures 2nd ed
Cat | Triangle Agency
David MK | Stonetop, AWBO, Ex-Capes
Bez | Chapter Dungeon Crawler
José | Girl by Moonlight

In this episode host Lowell Francis is joined by Michael D. and Alun R. to talk about the ups and downs of "funny" game mechanics, a modern approach to traditional fantasy, and facing down what feels like inescapable doom. They examine light rules for sitcoms, new rules with an old feel, and a game that puts you on the losing side of a war.

Please note that we will not be releasing any more episodes in December, but look for our upcoming annual Games of the Year episode dropping at the start of 2026!

Going for Broke
Grimwild
Band of Blades

Panda's Talking Games
Viva La QueerBar (English)
Viva La QueerBar (Deutsch)

Lowell's Dumb Honkai Star Rail Returning Player Code

Michael
https://kpopandrpgs.itch.io/
KPOPandRPGs on social media or @kpopandrpgs or Michael D on Discord.

Alun
https://gallusgames.itch.io/
@gallusgames or Alun R on Discord
@gallusgamesar.bsky.social on BlueSky

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
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Our actual play podcast can be found here
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00:00 Introduction
01:55 Michael & Going For Broke
16:10 Alun & Grimwild
29:24 Lowell & Band of Blades
49:19 Giving Me Life

Note: we had some audio issues with this recording (apologies)! In our third episode of Roll for Mutation, a look at the history of Post-Apocalyptic TTRPGs, we bow in abject obeisance Friend Computer and the incomparably perfect TTRPG Paranoia from West End Games and then Mongoose. We consider the different editions and how we live in a phenomenal time which sometimes necessitates updating. But of course it never actually changed, since the Computer tells us that it has always been that way. Hosts Lowell Francis and Marc Majcher cover the extended history of the game and how it desperately raced to keep itself contemporary. We talk about what Paranoia is, where it fits in gaming history, our split experience playing it, and our general thoughts about the game.

References
Paranoia on Wikipedia
Paranoia on RPG Geek
RPGNet Interview with James Wallis, Grant Howitt & Paul Dean
The Toothpaste Disaster
Designers & Dragons Volume 2 The 1980s

For other shows like this, check out Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History.

Marc Majcher is an award-winning game designer, performer, educator, director, woodworker, writer, and all-around goblin-man recently relocated from Austin, Texas to East Lansing, Michigan. You can find their RPGs and LARPs inspired by the works of Philip K. Dick, a bird apocalypse, eldritch startup cults, viral videos, and much, much more at https://majcher.itch.io/ and everything else at https://majcher.com/.

Lowell Francis is the designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin. He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community.

You can find Lowell's work on YouTube, on Itch.io, and on DriveThruRPG.

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
Support us on Patreon!
Our actual play podcast can be found here
Follow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpg
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpg
Mastodon: @[email protected]

Music: Here Comes the Night Karl Casey @White Bat Audio

00:00 Introduction: Paranoia
00:45 What is it?
09:28 Gaming History
21:10 The Media Context
28:47 Our Thoughts

Content Advisory: character death, ritual sacrifice

Ian & José are joined by Wyllora to explore what it means to fail in an RPG, and why we might want to do it on purpose. How do we define "success" in games, and what are the ways we can step outside that limit with agency?

Wyllora’s Work: 
Art - https://www.artstation.com/wyllora
Game Design - https://wyllora.itch.io/
Triangle Agency Holiday-themed Game Jam! - https://itch.io/jam/time-and-a-half

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
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Our actual play podcast can be found here
Follow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpg
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Mastodon: @[email protected]

Our info:
email: [email protected]
music: https://lloydeaves.bandcamp.com/album/a-different-kind-of-hex

Lets talk widescreen, big idea sci-fi. Games of space fleets, interstellar empires, sometimes aliens-- big ideas and lasers. Games like Star Trek Adventures, Traveller, Fading Suns, Space Wyrm vs Moonicorn, Dune, Coriolis, Scum & Villainy, Ashen Stars, Star Wars, Last Fleet, and the like. Talking Space Opera is another in our series of community discussions. It looks at sci-fi gaming and this tent-pole sub-genre. Our discussion ranges widely but includes: What is Space Opera, Space Combat, Aliens, Space Travel, Making Characters Not Feel Small in a Big Universe, Collaborative Building, and more.

Selected Games Mentioned
Once More into the Void
Cluster
Rust Hulks
Fellowship
Starscape
Storm Furies
Rebel Few
Tachyon Squadron
Superbandit
Stars Without Number
Golgotha
Through the Void
Uncharted Worlds

Recommended Reading: Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
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Mastodon: @[email protected] 

Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History jumps forward significantly in time to just after the d20 boom/bust cycle. Today's focus is Ross Payton's independently produced and Kickstarted Base Raiders. They go over what the game is, its place in the history of gaming, and what was going on in comics media at the time. They then move to general discussion, including what what's weird and what they dug. We talk a little about how you might adapt this elsewhere and its place in the history of Fate.

If you dig this series, please rate, review, and subscribe.

Jay's the author of By Aecer’s Light, The Clockwinders for Fate, Cortex Prime's Supers, and a contributing author on Pathfinder’s Mwangi Expanse, Trophy Gold, Hit the Streets: Defend the Block, and the upcoming Lifted: Indomitable RPG, a supers game about everyday folks with extraordinary powers in a tech-aggressive world.

Check out Mad Jay's work at Play.Fearless and at the Diceology Podcast.

Lowell is the designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin. He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community.

You can find Lowell's work on YouTube, on Itch.io, and on DriveThruRPG.

Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming Community
Support us on Patreon!
Our actual play podcast can be found here
Follow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpg
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpg
Mastodon: @[email protected] 

00:00 Intro
00:58 The Pitch
05:11 Gaming History
08:12 Comics & Media History
12:09 Thoughts