Plot Points

A professor, an RPG designer, and a podcast host come together over Ill Met in Lankhmar, a seminal Appendix N text by Fritz Leiber. Game design, history, prose, and yes, even art, come together in this golden hour of audio.

We need YOU to vote for Plot Points at the ENnies! Click here to support the show!  

Ben’s book on RPG theory is finally available for purchase! Encounter Theory lays out Ben’s theory of adventure design. It also has 14 playplans to help you design better adventures, and an entire 5E adventure applying his ideas, along with commentary about why he wrote adventure the way he did. Check it out here! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

Buy Ill Met in Lankhmar for Kindle here!

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image courtesy Goodman Games.  

Pelgrane Press is a phenomenal company devoted solely to the production of role-playing games. The company's products are universally stunning, from 13th Age to The Dracula Dossier. How does Pelgrane manage to put out such consistently amazing material with only one full-time employee? An interview with co-owner Cat Tobin plumbs the depths of the Pelgrane paradox. 

Ben’s book on RPG theory is finally available for purchase! Encounter Theory lays out Ben’s theory of adventure design. It also has 14 playplans to help you design better adventures, and an entire 5E adventure applying his ideas, along with commentary about why he wrote adventure the way he did. Check it out here! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

Buy Ill Met in Lankhmar for Kindle here!

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image courtesy Pelgrane Press.

Chris Lindsay runs the D&D Adventurer's League, D&D's organized play, and is the mastermind behind the DM's Guild, which allows Jane & Joe Average to write adventures using D&D IP. In this episode, he talks about how both organizations run, and came to be!

Ben’s book on RPG theory is finally available for purchase! Encounter Theory lays out Ben’s theory of adventure design. It also has 14 playplans to help you design better adventures, and an entire 5E adventure applying his ideas, along with commentary about why he wrote adventure the way he did. Check it out here! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image by Larry Elmore, and courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Words are wielded like daggers in this contentious episode of Plot Points.

Is the new edition of Scion a step forward or leap backward? Brad, Ben, & Sarah vigorously argue about the new edition of Scion, Onyx Path's game of modern mythology.

Ben’s book on RPG theory is finally available for purchase! Encounter Theory lays out Ben’s theory of adventure design. It also has 14 playplans to help you design better adventures, and an entire 5E adventure applying his ideas, along with commentary about why he wrote adventure the way he did. Check it out here! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image is courtesy Onyx Path Publishing.

Learn secrets to running better adventures from gaming professionals!

A galaxy of game greats pass on their collective wisdom to make your gaming sessions go gangbusters! Rick Heinz of Geek & Sundry, Jim Lowder of TSR and Chaosium, Pip System lead developer Crystal Mazur, game designer and writer Ray Jenkins, and Ben Riggs of Plot Points gathered before a soldout crowd at C2E2 to share their ideas about how to improve the experience of running a role-playing game. 

Ben’s book on RPG theory is finally available for purchase! Encounter Theory lays out Ben's theory of adventure design. It also has 14 playplans to help you design better adventures, and an entire 5E adventure applying his ideas, along with commentary about why he wrote adventure the way he did. Check it out here! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image is courtesy Wizards of the Coast.

A talk with the oracle of the OSR! Jacob Hurst won an ENnie for his work on Hot Springs Island, which you can check out here. Ben & Jacob talk about his current projects, and the creation of Hot Springs!

Ben's book on RPG theory is finally available for purchase! Check it out here! If you are a Patreon backer, and you buy a copy of the book before 12 PM CST Saturday, June 8th, Ben will review the product of your choice on Plot Points!

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image is courtesy Swordfish Islands. 

How did pulp fiction of the 1930s influence D&D? Plot Points takes a hard look at the question by reading "Return of the Sorcerer" by Clark Ashton Smith, and brings along a couple special guests for the journey. Prof. Jason Ray Carney is a fascinating professor of English at Christopher Newport University with an upcoming book, Weird Tales of Modernity. Clinton J. Boomer is a game designer, novelist, and raconteur. They get together with Ben to look at the influence pulp fiction, and one particular story, had on the development of D&D. 

Read "Return of the Sorcerer" here.  

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image is in the public domain. 

What can gamers learn from improv to have more fun at the table? Improv impresario Karen Twelves has the answers! Ben has a wide-ranging and free-wheeling conversation with her about game, life, and living abroad. Buy her book, Improv for Gamers here!

Also mentioned in the podcast was Archipelago. 

Interested in any of Ben's seminars at Gen Con? Learn more here. 

Plot Points is going to try out a new feature: an Appendix N book club! Prof. Jason Carney is an expert in pulp fiction, and RPG superstar and Pathfinder author Clinton J. Boomer knows fantasy RPGs like the back of his hand. We gather these two phenoms to discuss authors that influenced D&D, starting with “The Return of the Sorcerer” by Clark Ashton Smith. Read it here in the next few weeks if you want to be ready for the episode! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image courtesy of Evil Hat Productions. 

Encounter Party is a slick piece of D&D entertainment so well-acted and so well-edited that it is more like audio drama than anything else. Our own Sarah Babe plays a minotaur on the podcast, and quite simply, if you enjoy Plot Points, you have to check out Encounter Party. 

If you like Encounter Problem, check out Ned Donovan's other piece of white-hot media, a vampire musical web series, The Hunted: Encore. Yes, you read that right. Vampire. Musical. Web series. 

Plot Points is going to try out a new feature: an Appendix N book club! Prof. Jason Carney is an expert in pulp fiction, and RPG superstar and Pathfinder author Clinton J. Boomer knows fantasy RPGs like the back of his hand. We gather these two phenoms to discuss authors that influenced D&D, starting with “The Return of the Sorcerer” by Clark Ashton Smith. Read it here in the next few weeks if you want to be ready for the episode! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you’ll get a sneak peek into Ben’s book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image courtesy of Encounter Party.

A city that covers a planet, riven by factions and guilds- that is Ravnica! Plot Points takes a deep dive into this iconic Magic: The Gathering setting's translation into D&D 5th edition! But what is D&D when characters can't just kill their way to victory?   

Plot Points is going to try out a new feature: an Appendix N book club! Prof. Jason Carney is an expert in pulp fiction, and RPG superstar and Pathfinder author Clinton J. Boomer knows fantasy RPGs like the back of his hand. We gather these two phenoms to discuss authors that influenced D&D, starting with "The Return of the Sorcerer" by Clark Ashton Smith. Read it here in the next few weeks if you want to be ready for the episode! 

Like Plot Points? Support it on Patreon at the $2 level, and you'll get a sneak peek into Ben's book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast! This chapter concerns TSR West, an effort by TSR to open an LA office devoted to producing comic books, an effort that failed rather impressively. It is the product of a dozen interviews with professionals from comics, gaming, and Hollywood, and as far as I can reckon, it is a tale entirely untold until now.  

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Find us on Twitter @PlotPointsPod!

Give us a review on iTunes to help the show grow!

Audio courtesy of 50 Breaks!

Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast.