Plot Points

A warlock-based 5E campaign inspired by a heavy metal album? And the album was retooled and recorded by the Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra? Can such a thing be? Hearken to The Red Opera! Inspired by the DiAmorte album of the same name, today we interview game designer Rick Heinz about this eye-and-ear-grabbing Kickstarter!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Apotheosis Studios.

We're back after an unexpected two-week hiatus with Dale Donovan, an editor, game designer, TSR alum, and Dragon Magazine veteran. He takes us through a career that made him a witness to some pivotal events in RPG history.

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast.

How the deal to buy the world's first role-playing game company was negotiated and sealed. Ben Riggs has interviewed those who were there and can tell for the first time the whole story. Recorded live at Gen Con Online!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast.

The 2020 version of my research on how TSR went from grossing $40 million a year to being bought by Wizards of the Coast. Performed live at Gen Con Online!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast.

Imagine inserting Cthulhu, Aladdin, and the Easter Bunny in your 5E campaign. That is exactly the kind of role-playing madness allowed by Mythological Figures & Maleficient Monsters, on Kickstarter now! In this episode, we talk to Mike Myler and Russ Morrissey of EN Publishing about this fine new tome!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy EN Publishing.

RPG designer WJ MacGuffin comes on the show to talk Paranoia, the dystopic/comic sci-fi RPG of clones and treason! They've got Project Infinite Hole on Kickstarter right now!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Mongoose Publishing.

Mark Diaz Truman is one of the madcap masterminds of Magpie Games. Magpie's Zombie World, a card-based, Powered by the Apocalypse game of zombie survival is up for multiple Ennies. In this deep discussion, Mark and Ben chew over the role of writing in generating great games, playtesting, and different models of RPG companies.

Plot Points, and Ben's book, Encounter Theory, are both up for Ennies! Please go vote now! To encourage you, Plot Points is going to be putting out an episode a day this week!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Magpie Games.

David Larkins, writer of Berlin: The Wicked City takes us on a tour of Weimar Berlin, now with more tentacles!

Learn more about Chaosium in the 21st century with this article Ben wrote.

Here's an episode on Greg Stafford from a few years ago.

Plot Points, and Ben's book, Encounter Theory, are both up for Ennies! Please go vote now! To encourage you, Plot Points is going to be putting out an episode day this week!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Chaosium.

Robin Laws had a dream, which led him to write a short story, and use that to create The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. Once HP Lovecraft dreamed of a book called the Necronomicon. Will Robin's RPG turn out to be as baleful as that unsettling tome? There is only one way to find out... Also, it's nominated for an Ennie, along with companion work Absinth in Carcosa! Go vote now! To encourage you, Plot Points is going to be putting out an episode every day this week!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image courtesy Pelgrane Press.

John Tynes writes RPGs so good it makes me stutter. I've interviewed him twice. Each time, I've been fidgety and nervous beforehand. The man's games take up the #1 and #2 slots on the RPG.net game index! That's a frightening level of RPG chops. And now he has a new book out, The Labyrinth, and that's just as good as his other material? By Arneson's beard, how?

Plot Points, and Ben's book, Encounter Theory, are both up for Ennies! Please go vote now! To encourage you, Plot Points is going to be putting out an episode day this week!

Ben's book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential volume!

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.

Image by Dennis Detwiller, courtesy Arc Dream Publishing.