Roleplay Rescue

Today’s episode arose from another one of those moments in which I couldn’t keep the passion of the topic inside any longer. It was also triggered by some pretty disparate experiences in my own gaming coalescing into a moment of clarity. Thus, although I am hoping that clarity can be transmitted during this episode, you’ll have to be the judge on whether I manage to pull it off. 

Thanks to all the callers in this episode: Jason C, Goblin's Henchman, and Rui Lourenco - great stuff and please keep 'em coming!

Roleplay Rescue Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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This one's a treasure-trove of lovely call-ins mixed with the usual snippets from the DM's Diary. As ever, it's unashamedly personal, raw, and poorly edited. Massive thanks to the callers - Spencer, Colin, Lieren, Jason, and Andy! It's a good-un!

Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

This week’s episode is about my sudden return to the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons and the profound impact this has had on me over the past week and a half. I also want to take the time to share a whole bunch of great call-ins that I’ve received, most of which are in praise of episode 518 in which Andy Goodman and I shared a deep conversation about the Fear and Freedom of Improvisation. I'm not entirely sure if this makes a whole bunch of sense but there you go. Game on!

Thanks to Spikepit, Evil Jeff, Jason C, Lieren, Menion, and FreeThrall for the call-ins!

Roleplay Rescue Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

This week is an unusually energetic blast through my thoughts on narrative, description, what happened at the school club, D&D5e, what's going on in my Traveller gaming, and how Dolmenwood is going. As usual, it's a raw and largely unedited collection of random thoughts collected through the week and assembled into a rough diary. Take from it what you will - but it's pretty candid and personal, you have been warned!

Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

This week I’ve been thinking an awful lot about what it means to be a Referee - or Game Master, Dungeon Master, Storyteller, whatever - running your own game. With our theme of getting back to the table firmly in mind, I sat down to jot out a list of the key Referee Tools that I would seek to bring to the table for almost any game I run. I am not necessarily good at remembering to assemble these items, but I do strongly feel like they help me to run a positive session for my friends - both face-to-face and online. I thought it might be interesting to share those notes with you and invite anyone with additional things they use to call in to let me know.

Big thanks to Andy Goodman and Barry Dewey-Robertson for their barrage of great call-ins! Keep 'em coming, folks!

Rescue Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

This week was half-term for me and I was off work with my wife. We spent a fair bit of time zipping out to nice places and in-between I got to do some travelling myself. Alone. Fabulous call-ins included. Many thanks to Andy Goodman, Goblin's Henchman, Rob C, and Menion for taking the time to shoot me a message. Game on!

Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

Following on from recent thoughts on questions surrounding the role of story and narrative in tabletop roleplaying games, I hopped online to chat with fellow Anchor podcaster, Andy Goodman from Expedition to The Grizzley Peaks. We had a fairly unstructured natter about the role of emergent play, improvisation, and prepared narrative structure in gaming. It was a very illuminating conversation.

Thanks to the call-in callers: Jason, Mr Henchman, and Rui - you are amazing and I am, as ever, deeply grateful for your thoughts.

Especial thanks to Frank T for editing this interview and saving me  the embarrassment of not having an episode this week. Thank you!

Andy Goodman's podcast: anchor.fm/andy-goodman8

Frank T's Patreon: patreon.com/FrankT

Rescue Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

This was the week I ran my first-ever game of Old-School Essentials in Dolmenwood. Call-ins from Jason, ShandyAndy, and Menion kick us off and then we dive through the past week's DM's Diary entries. It all culminates in the outcomes from Dolmenwood and a new project for Traveller entering my consciousness. Remember: this is the DM's Diary so it's raw, uncut, and meandering. 

Enter at your own risk! Game on!

Old-School Essentials: necroticgnome.com/collections/old-school-essentials

Learning How To Play Traveller blog post: roleplayrescue.com/2020/02/16/learning-how-to-play-traveller

Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

Catching up on my DM's Diary, this episode brings you through to about the turn of the month in February 2020. Lovely call-ins from Goblin's Henchman, John Alan Large, Josh Beckelhimer, and Menion aka Rob. Thanks to all of them! 

Remember: this is the DM's Diary so it's raw, uncut, and meandering. Enter at your own risk! Game on! 

Dear Diary Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD 

Contact Details: 

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message 

Email: [email protected] 

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue 

Blog: roleplayrescue.com 

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue") 

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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

What if roleplaying games aren’t about storytelling? What if we stop thinking about our games as collaborative attempts to create coherent narratives? What if, after all, we consider that RPGs are - at their roots - actually just games? 

I’ve been thinking a lot about the assumptions that we tend to have about roleplaying games. There is one particular oft-repeated phrase that has long niggled at me and which, if I am honest, I am not entirely sure is true. Or, at least, I don’t think it HAS to be true. I think it might be true only if we want it to be. You’ve heard it said, I am sure: “Roleplaying games are a form of collaborative storytelling.” 

Thanks to all the callers in this episode: George, Rob, Rui, and Josh. This feedback and sharing of thoughts is what makes Roleplay Rescue and Anchor podcasts generally compelling. Thank you!

Rescue Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD

Contact Details:

Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue

Blog: roleplayrescue.com

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

Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")

Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

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