Roleplay Rescue

In February 1986, a free newsletter began to be posted out to customers from Steve Jackson Games: Roleplayer. Now available again from Warehouse 23, in the summer of 2024 I got curious to discover what insights this old newsletter might hold about the development of GURPS. What I found was a portal back to 1986 which began to inspire me towards play in directions both old and, strangely, new.

Thanks to Jason Connerley who, by sending me GURPS Second Edition, unlocked this whole episode’s content.

Thanks to all the callers - Frank T, Jason C, Jon M, Jon C, and Wiebe - for adding the community’s voice to this episode.

Game on!

Roleplayer on Warehouse23:

GURPS Roleplayer Bundle | Warehouse 23

OR

https://warehouse23.com/products/gurps-roleplayer-bundle

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a special bonus episode to celebrate the forthcoming Reaver Sword and Sorcery Roleplaying Game by Raven God Games. Because Reaver is on Kickstarter right now until 7th October 2024, I couldn’t wait to share this conversation with the game’s designer.

Joe Salvador is a freelance cartographer, writer and game designer hailing from Ohio, USA who has been involved with role-playing games for more than 30 years. He is the writer and creator of Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Roleplaying and Reaver RPG. He has produced material for many other RPG systems within the broadly OSR category. He publishes under the banner of Raven God Games and he joins us today to talk about Reaver: Sword & Sorcery Roleplaying Game, on Kickstarter until October 7th 2024.

Big thanks to Joe Salvador for coming on the show and also to Jason, from the Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast, for connecting us.

Reaver Kickstarter: Reaver: Sword & Sorcery Role-Playing Game by Joseph Salvador — Kickstarter

OR

kickstarter.com/projects/ravengodgames/reaver-sword-and-sorcery-role-playing-game/

Raven God Games: Raven God Games

OR

ravengodgames.blogspot.com/

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest, Arlen Walker, is the host of Live From Pellam’s Wasteland which you can find both as a podcast and on YouTube in video form. In this, the last of my holiday chats with gaming friends, Arlen raises the question of how to deal with dragons in our roleplaying campaigns.

Big thanks up front to Arlen for coming on to the show. As ever, it was a fascinating conversation which I hope you’ll find as interesting as I did.

Game on!

Pellam's Wasteland Plays Solo Podcast:

Pellam's Wasteland Plays Solo • A podcast on Spotify for Podcasters

OR

podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pellamswastelandplayssolo

Live From Pellam's Wasteland YouTube Channel:

Live from Pellam's Wasteland: Back & Showing Off Elephants! (youtube.com)

OR

youtube.com/@LivefromPellamsWasteland

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s chat is with Menion, aka Rob, the creator and host of Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi, a podcast that hails from Japan. This one follows on from Rob’s call-in at the top of the show as we pick up his points in response to Episode 3 and wrestle together to make sense of the elusive intangibility of the fantasy Otherworld.

Big thank you in advance to Rob for hopping online (back in August) and sharing this delightful and insightful chat. I hope that you’ll find our discussion helpful and interesting.

Game on!

Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi:

Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi | Podcast on Spotify

OR

open.spotify.com/show/0NF1sMhWGIllBFS2u2w14G

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Connerley is the voice behind the Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast podcast and a regular caller to several shows, including this one. We’ve gamed a few times over the years and always seem to enjoy ourselves. As I began the summer break, I was grateful for Jason being willing to have a chat about something he was curious about… and it ended up that he interviewed me.

Big thanks up front to Jason for taking the time to record this conversation about some practical questions for face-to-face gaming. We even went on to record a second bit about how I have fallen out of love with D&D… but I’ll leave that for him to share on his show.

Game on!

Nerds RPG Variety Cast:

Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast • A podcast on Spotify for Podcasters

OR

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jason376

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Jon McNally has been a listener and Patron for some time now and regularly calls in. His thoughts and questions are always provocative for me in a positive manner, inviting reflection and deeper consideration. The call at the top of the show is the one message that I held off on including in Episode 3 and wanted to tackle in a separate show. So, here we are… and what could be better than to invite Jon onto the show to discuss it?

Big thanks to Jon for agreeing to talk this one over and I hope you will find it as useful as I did.

Game on!

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hailing from Portsmouth, Virginia, Christopher R. Rice is constantly writing, tinkering with, and running GURPS. A frequent writer for Steve Jackson Games, if he's not writing for GURPS, he's blogging about it. His site “Ravens N' Pennies” is well-stocked with more GURPS goodies than you could shake a stick at.

This one’s about GURPS Meta-Tech, his most recent book, but it’s about so much more. Even for those not into the GURPS system, there’s much to ponder and I hope you’ll listen in nonetheless. Christopher is a great evangelist for GURPS but he’s also a strong voice for creative, exciting game play.

Big thanks up front to Christopher for coming on the show!

Game on!

Ravens 'n' Pennies Blog:

Ravens N' Pennies - Caw! Caw! Look, it's a blog! About gaming and writing and...and stuff! (ravensnpennies.com)

OR

https://www.ravensnpennies.com/

Christopher's Ravenpenny Patreon:

Christopher R. Rice | Creating Role-Playing Games and Fiction | Patreon

OR

https://www.patreon.com/ravenpenny

Meta-Tech on Warehouse23:

GURPS Meta-Tech | Warehouse 23

OR

https://warehouse23.com/collections/new/products/gurps-meta-tech-pdf

Meta-Tech on Amazon:

GURPS Meta-Tech: Amazon.co.uk: Rice, Christopher R.: 9781639990566: Books

OR

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GURPS-Meta-Tech-Christopher-R-Rice/dp/1639990569

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Rescuers!

This episode is subtitled, "Tactical combat, wargaming, and RPGs". Although inspired by Snapshot, the thoughts are broader than any one particular set of rules.

Opening with a quotation from Jamison's, "Gamemastering", this episode shares some thoughts about the place of wargaming in the roleplayer’s arsenal. The words of Brian Jamison tell us to be wary of such folk, but I am in disagreement.

Big thank you to Jason, John, Simon, and Wiebe for contributing to the show with their calls!

And thank you to you for tuning in and making this show a part of your hobby. I hope you find it useful.

Game on!

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:

https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode brings us back to the most important question in rediscovering our hobby: How do we best recapture the spirit of play and of deep engagement with these games? This episode reflects on a shift in my experience of gaming and talks about what I have been learning as I focused on running two Fellmyr games - that is two groups of players using the same world - on a regular basis over the past six months. I also share some messages I’ve received from listeners which express gratitude for Roleplay Rescue and everything that this community stands for.

Big thank you to Jon, Matt, Riley, Thorsten, and Peter Laws for contributing to the show! I would not be sitting here recording if not for your inspiration.

Game on!

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Rescuers! We’re back! Sort of.

As I said a few weeks ago, I am changing the pace of Roleplay Rescue from a regular podcast to being a, well, irregular podcast - in other words, although this is the first episode of the resurrected show, it may be some time (or not) before I record another.

But this episode couldn’t wait. I thought about holding it back but, frankly, it was such a great conversation that I couldn’t in good conscience hold it back.

Today, I am honoured to welcome W. Michael Tenery III, author of the Imagine Role Playing (role-playing.com), to our show. Michael’s game is something I discovered back around 2000 and have longed to play ever since.

It’s a game I’ve dabbled with but never dived into… until now. During the interregnum betwixt series, I’ve found myself back reading and solo playing Imagine and, well, it’s a game I want to talk about more.

Big thank you to Michael for coming on the show - it was a truly inspiring conversation and I have been deeply affected by it. I cannot thank you enough for the ideas that you’ve sparked. I hope it sparks something for others too.

Game on!

Links:

Imagine Roleplaying: https://role-playing.com/

Random Encounter Show, "How Has This Hidden Gem Stayed Hidden?!": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn1Epv09Yx8

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message:

speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon:

patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email:

[email protected]

Blog

roleplayrescue.com 

Bluesky Social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:

https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.