Roleplay Rescue

Which set of roleplaying game rules should you use? What do you need to learn before you run the game? And how important are they to the success of the game?

As an anxious gamer, the biggest focus of my hobby over the years has been the question of which set of rules is the best for roleplaying. My experience has been simple: this is the wrong question.

Thanks to the Pink Phantom, Jason Connerly, and Jason Wiebe for the call-ins today.

Game on!

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

Today is the third in a series of conversations I shared over the period between the seasons, with some of the most creative gamers I know. My guest today is the single biggest influence on this podcast, a huge inspiration to me as a Game Master. He is, of course, The Alexandrian himself - Justin Alexander.

Just in case you don’t know, Justin is a freelance writer and the author of The Alexandrian.net. His published works include more than 200 books, articles, and reviews including gaming supplements published by Modiphius Entertainment, Fantasy Flight Games, Dream Pod 9, Atlas Games, Troll Lord Games, and Dream Machine Productions. Justin is also the host of his own YouTube channels entitled Advanced Gamemastery, Quick GM Tips, and “Let’s Read 1974 D&D”.

Big thank you up front to Justin for coming back onto the show. I hope you’ll find this as illuminating as I did.

Game on!

The Alexandrian Blog: The Alexandrian » Gamemastery 101 or https://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101

The Alexandrian YouTube: The Alexandrian - YouTube or https://www.youtube.com/TheAlexandrian

Justin's Patreon: Justin Alexander is creating ROLEPLAYING GAME DOODADS, TRINKETS, AND INSIGHTS | Patreon or https://www.patreon.com/justinalexander/posts

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme also by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

How do we get started setting up and running a fantasy roleplaying game? What’s the best approach to getting the game off the ground quickly? And how can we do it in such a way as to keep stress to the minimum?

Let’s start with this: The best way to get a game going quickly is to begin with a place, a location from which to launch an adventure.

Thanks to Jason and Wiebe for the call-ins!

Legend of The Bones Podcast: Legend of the Bones | a podcast by legendofthebones (podbean.com) OR https://legendofthebones.podbean.com/

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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 conversation was about Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and arose as I was trying to put together my own Open Table game now known as Hiraeth. At the time, I was wavering on which rules system to use and ultimately this chat helped me decide.

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

Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi podcast: Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi • A podcast on Anchor OR https://anchor.fm/menion

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

What’s the easiest and most straightforward way to start playing roleplaying games after many years away from the table? And if we’re playing already but want to make the jump towards being Game Master, what’s the simplest path? Is there a way to make our first games so likely to succeed that we can overcome the anxiety that stands in the way?

Big thanks to Jason, Brian, and Adam for the call-ins!

LINKS:

D&D Basic Rules: Basic D&D Rules | Dungeons & Dragons (wizards.com) OR https://dnd.wizards.com/what-is-dnd/basic-rules

The Alexandrian Open Table Manifesto: The Alexandrian » Open Table Manifesto OR https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/38643/roleplaying-games/open-table-manifesto

OD&D (includes Book III): OD&D Dungeons & Dragons Original Edition (0e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D, Original Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild (dmsguild.com) OR https://www.dmsguild.com/product/28306/ODD-Dungeons--Dragons-Original-Edition-0e

BECMI DM's Book: D&D Basic Set - DM's Rulebook (BECMI ed.) (Basic) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D Basic | D&D Basic | Dungeon Masters Guild (dmsguild.com) OR https://www.dmsguild.com/product/116619/DD-Basic-Set--DMs-Rulebook-BECMI-ed-Basic

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

A short while ago I was privileged to be able to catch Doug for a chat about his forthcoming projects, most notably his entry into the Old-School Essentials B/X D&D space, with a really cool Kickstarter running until the tail end of August 2022. 

Big thanks to Doug for coming to speak to us and I hope you find this conversation illuminating. Especially look out for Doug talking about a few new projects previously unreported…

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamingballistic/old-school-solo-adventures

Gaming Ballistic: http://gamingballistic.com/

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

This is the first of a series of conversations I’ve shared, over the period between the seasons, with some of the most creative gamers I know. Simon Williams is a British artist and illustrator as well as being the creator of the Legend of The Bones podcast, a hybrid Solo Old School Dungeons and Dragons actual play and dark fantasy audio drama. His evocative illustrations are inspired by classic roleplaying games like Fighting Fantasy and classic works of fiction such as The Lord of The Rings. On top of all of this, Simon is a husband and father. He has been running an ongoing roleplaying campaign for about 4 years and has plenty of experience with solo roleplaying to boot.

Big thank you for Simon for coming on the show!

Legend of The Bones Podcast: Legend of the Bones | a podcast by legendofthebones (podbean.com) OR https://legendofthebones.podbean.com/

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

Bandit Camp is a gathering of tabletop designers and artists looking to spend time making things they love and my guest today hails from that gathering. Among other things, Ben Nielson is the maker of “Wicked Ones”, a tabletop RPG where you play as monsters building a dungeon together. Hailing from Japan, Ben is Kickstarting the new full-game expansion, “Undead Awakening” and has graciously agreed to come for a chat.

Big thanks to Ben for Ben Nielson for coming and talking to us!

Wicked Ones Links:

Wicked Ones and Undead Awakening: Offset Print Run by Bandit Camp — Kickstarter

Kickstarter Begins 1st August 2022: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/banditcamp/wo-ua-hardcover

Wicked Ones Deluxe Edition: Wicked Ones: Deluxe Edition - Bandit Camp | DriveThruRPG.com OR https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/338480/Wicked-Ones-Deluxe-Edition

Wicked Ones Free Edition: Wicked Ones: Free Edition - Bandit Camp | DriveThruRPG.com OR https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/354307/Wicked-Ones-Free-Edition

Bandit Camp on itch.io: Bandit Camp – Tabletop RPG Games and Art OR https://banditcamp.io/

Bandit Camp on Twitter: @BanditCampGames OR https://twitter.com/BanditCampGames

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

This season we are working towards creating an anxious gamer’s guide to roleplaying games and seeking to reduce the stress, worry, and heartache that so often seems to accompany something that feels like it should be more fun than it is. In his book, Play, Brown asserts that the reason we are doing an activity defines whether or not it is play. This pairing of ideas helped me to realise that some of my games are not playful. I feel it’s important to recognise the times when we are engaging in non-play.

Thanks to Jason and Wiebe for the call-ins!

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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

Some roleplayers experience deep anxiety around playing and running games. Although I didn’t realise it until recently, my gaming habits have been formed as much by social and generalised anxiety as they have by anything else. More than that, one of the most repeated comments I have received over the past 3 and a half years of producing this podcast has been the one about how much my honest talk about anxiety has resonated with others. This episode begins a new season of Roleplay Rescue and we are going to open with a broad theme: An Anxious GM’s Guide To Fantasy Roleplaying. 

Big thank you to Jason and Brian for the call-ins!

Roleplay Rescue Details:

Voice Message: speakpipe.com/roleplayrescue

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Email: [email protected]

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/

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