Role Playing Public Radio

In 1968, in response to sinister influences that threatened to corrupt America from within and without, the Federal Government established a new agency – one that quickly acquired a reputation for ambitious operations overseas, for covert action, and for doing what had to be done, no matter the cost. This new agency was the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the BNDD. And within it – the forces of DELTA GREEN. This is the Borellus Connection. We recently finished the campaign on RPPR Actual Play and now we join up to discuss it. Join Aaron, Caleb, Chris, Tom, and I as we go through the book and discuss what we liked and didn’t like. There’s a video version of this episode on Patreon as a public post. I screenshared the PDF so you can see what I’m talking about.  Check out Hebanon Games and Delta Green Dead Channels to support Caleb’s work. Chris makes great videos on Youtube about video game history. 

Alpha Omega is a Shadowrun-esque heartbreaker that covers a lot of territory. Its Wikipedia entry notes that its major claim to fame was the ARG/fake conspiracy theory called Ethan Haas was Right, which was briefly thought to be part of the Cloverfield viral marketing campaign. It got a lot of things right and a lot of things so very wrong. We also talk about conspiracy theorists and the Conspira-Sea Cruise, which has a lot of great guest speakers! Enjoy another classic episode of After Hours, now featuring Caleb, Ross, Tom, and Aaron, now with improved audio quality! In RPPR Patreon news, I posted the first episode of our Megadungeon Meandering series on Moria, the fabled lost dwarven city from Lord of the Rings, now available as a book for The One Ring. Check it out! I also made a survey about what content I should write for next year on the RPPR Patreon. See the scenarios I’ve made in the last year and let me know what you want to see from me.

Aaron, Dan, Tom, and I discuss an adventure for Rogue Trader. It’s called Soul Reaver and Aaron has no knowledge of the 40k setting, which makes him the perfect reviewer for this adventure. We then devolve into madness, thanks to random roll tables in Mutant Chronicles, System Failure, Immortal: The Invisible War, and fan-created critical hit tables for Warhammer Fantasy. RPPR News: Get 20% off an annual membership to RPPR at the $5 or $10 level by using discount code RPPRMAS at checkout. You can even gift memberships now, so give the gift of RPG scenarios, (8 so far!) and over 10 years of bonus podcasts, artwork, and more rewards! We have a new PDF scenario for patrons. Check out Alienation of the Flesh today and listen to our actual play episode.

Gen Con 2025 was a blast and we saw a lot and played a lot of great games! I talk with Caleb, Tom, Aaron, Elle, and David about their experiences this year. I’ve included links below for games we discuss. RPPR News: I just posted my sixth original PDF, Alienation of the Flesh, I’ve made in the last year for the RPPR Patreon! To celebrate, I’ve created a new discount! Get 20% off for an annual membership for RPPR by using discount code RPPRMAS You can even gift memberships now. It’s the perfect holiday gift! No need to wrap it, no need to ship it. The RPPR Patreon has over 10 years of bonus podcast episodes, full games, scenarios, artwork, and other exclusive content. We have a great Discord community and I run games every month for patrons. Click below for all the links to the games and other things mentioned in this episode. Ross and Caleb Diana Jones Awards ARKYVR: mothership module Shadowdark RPG Godzilla Trading Card Game Mythic Bastionland Ave Nox Helluva Town RPG Hangry Games Labyrinth Signal Ruins card game Lightning Train board game Dawn of the Orcs RPG Outgunned RPG Salvage Union RPG Botany board game Tom Island of Dr. Moreau RPG Eat the Reich RPG Legends: a superhero RPG (Tom thought it started with Freedom but it is called Legends) Wild Skies: Liberating Strife: RPG source book Aaron and Elle Ticket to Ride board game Lorcana card game Starship Horizons video game Expeditions board game Gundam Assemble skirmish game Artis Opus paintbrushes Turbo Dork paints David Pin Bazaar Good Strong Hands RPG Landmarks board game Squirrel Away board game David’s pins

I interviewed Rhodrick Magsino, author of ARKYVR at Gen Con 2025 about his new module. ARKYVR is a multimedia MOTHERSHIP 1E setting & toolkit to play documentary filmmakers in space. Equipped with only their camera gear, ARKYVRs will attempt to document life in space and expose corporate client atrocities while surviving the void’s unspeakable horrors. We talked about his inspiration for creating the module, playtesting, and what he plans next. Get ARKYVER on DTRPG  Watch this interview on Youtube

We review Judge’s Guild Journal #18, d20 Kazakhstan for System Armageddon,, Atlas Shrugged the third movie, and Arkham Knight’s terrible batmobile. This is a classic episode from the archives of the RPPR Patreon, now with improved audio quality. Enjoy! RPPR News: The price of our lowest tier on the RPPR Patreon is going up from $2 to $3 on October 10. Current subscribers will be grandfathered in at the current price, so join today to keep the lower price! You can also sign up on annual basis and get a free month of RPPR! Join today!

Red Markets 2nd Edition is holding an open beta playtest for all of 2025. Come discuss the ongoing process! The new edition of the Profit System is more concise, more vicious, and closer than ever before. A panel of the game’s creators will take questions on the upcoming new edition or Red Markets in general. Caleb Stokes is the author of Red Markets, and he is joined by Ross Payton of Role Playing Public Radio, the award-winning podcast on which the game got its start nearly ten years ago. Download the Red Markets 2E playtest beta here! Listen to actual plays of Red Markets 2E at Hebanon Games on Patreon. More Red Markets APs can be found on the RPPR Patreon Games Youtube channel.

We review three RPG source books: Tarlkin’s Landing from Judge’s Guild, Earthshaker from TSR, and The Nightlife RPG by Stellar Games. We also discuss the gradual merging of bad movies like Samurai Cop and the Room into a schlock singularity and the future of bad-good movies. If you enjoy this episode, join the RPPR Patreon to get instant access to the full After Hours podcast collection and more rewards! We have over 10 years of episodes, plus full RPG scenarios on PDF, artwork, other podcasts, and a great Discord community.

Shadowdark is a fantasy role playing game built on OSR design principles with several new mechanics, including a real time torch light rule and experience point rules that emphasize exploration over violence. I sat down with the game’s creator, Kelsey Dionne at Gen Con to discuss the game’s creation, its mechanics, and how Kelsey has been able to build a community for the game. Learn more about the game at Arcane Libary’s website. https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark  

We had a blast at Gen Con this year! We recorded a lot of panels and games this year but this live recording of RPPR was a highlight for sure. In this episode, members of the RPPR cast talk about their gaming highlights over the last year, plans for RPPR in the near future, and games we wish we could play but never can bring to the table. Plus a segment where listeners try to stump us about what we had done in certain games. Featuring (from left) Fuzzy Dan Chris Aaron Caleb Ross Tom David

deadEarth is one of the weirdest RPGs I’ve seen. It features a d1000 mutation table. Back in 2015, Tom, Aaron, and I went up to St. Louis to catch the live Night Vale show. Before that though, we went through character creation in deadEarth. We also discuss deadEarth’s setting and starting adventure, Caleb shares his thoughts on the game, and we talk about Roar, the craziest goddamn movie ever made. Join the RPPR Patreon to get access to the entire archive of RPPR After Hours, get full RPG scenario PDFs, RPG maps, artwork, and a lot of other great rewards! deadEarth is still around. Check out the PDFs here. Support Caleb on Hebanon Games on Patreon and on Delta Green Dead Channels.  If you missed the last episode of RPPR, we’re doing a bunch of Gen Con events this year!  Watch a preview of our most recent episode of After Hours on Youtube, where we look at “Universe in Bloodbath Five” an..unusual demo adventure for Kremin the superhero RPG

I’ve written a new action horror RPG called Labyrinth Signal. It’s a d20-based system inspired by survival horror games like Silent Hill and Alan Wake. It uses an innovative combo meter mechanic for combat that adds tactical depth to fighting monsters and mitigates the swinginess of normal d20 fights. I talk about the mechanics and inspirations with Caleb. You can get the beta PDF on the RPPR Patreon, which comes with a full scenario, Peak Nightmares. I ran an actual play of it last month on RPPR Actual Play. Watch this episode on Youtube to see pages from the beta PDF and other visuals.  Check out Hebanon Games and Delta Green Dead Channels. We’re playing a great actual play campaign with Bridget, Fae, Thad, and Ross! We’re going to Gen Con this year! We’re running a lot of events and if you’re going, you can sign up for them with the links below. Introduction to RPG Podcasting – Thursday July 31 at 10 am Delta Green and Arc Dream Publishing Panel – Thursday July 31 at 8 pm Just One More Roll: Writing Mysteries for RPGs – Friday August 1 at 10 am Tableside Interventions – A Conversation for GMs Managing Mental Health Symptoms at the Table – Friday August 1 at 3 pm Red Markets 2nd Edition Panel Discussion – Friday August 1 at 4 pm Blood Soaked Mayhem: Action and Horror in RPGs – Saturday August 2 at 10 am RPPR Live Episode and Meetup! – Saturday August 2 at 8 PM On the RPPR Patreon, check out After Hours for our latest episodes on Kremin, the weirdest RPG since Synnibarr. In Megadungeon Meandering we’re looking at a Liminal Horror scenario about a small town with a secret evil cult. I also published a Cthulhu Eternal scenario called Darkfield, featuring art from Sirenhead creator Trevor Henderson.

We review Rifter #13, Palladium’s own magazine about their games. We also talk about headcanon, which is the idea of making your story behind a fictional story – like the cop wizards of Payday 2. This episode is from April 2015 but making fun of Palladium is timeless! If you enjoy this episode, join the Patreon to get access to all 10 years of After Hours! I’ve uploaded a beta of my new action horror RPG, Labyrinth Signal, to the RPPR Patreon. It contains a full adventure and all the rules you need to play.  Check out our preview of our newest episode of After Hours, where we look at Kremin, possibly the weirdest superhero RPG ever made:

In this episode, we review Darktek, a supplement for Dark Conspiracy filled with odd gear choices, and Warrens of the Ratmen, a 3E supplement about ratmen and their warrens. We also talk about the Superbowl and 50 Shades of Grey.  This episode was originally posted in March 2015 so enjoy this blast from the past! News: You can now gift memberships to the RPPR Patreon! Share RPPR with your gaming friends!

We’re celebrating 10 years of the RPPR Patreon by releasing the first year of the After Hours podcast on the public feed! You can listen to the very first episode of After Hours here on the main feed but until now, this episode has been Patreon exclusive. We’re looking at Ravenloft’s supplement on Darklords in this episode. Find out what a Manther is and his tragic backstory. Join Caleb, David, Tom, Aaron, and I as we plunge into the mists of Ravenloft. If you back the RPPR Patreon at the $2 level, you get access to TEN YEARS of After Hours podcast episodes, plus artwork and more. If you back at the $5 level or higher, you get bonus scenarios and a lot more!

Have you heard of galvanized square steel, the Munger dorms or Dahir Insaat? Bridget, Caleb, Fae, and I explore weird architectural stories and videos on the Internet. This is a preview of Scheduling Snafu, a new series on the RPPR Patreon, where the RPPR cast discusses weird stuff we find on the Internet. This episode has been mirrored on Youtube so you can watch it and see what we saw during the recording. All of the episodes have video and can be watched on the Patreon.  

Red Markets is back! Caleb has spent over a year playtesting and revising Red Markets, improving negotiation, combat, and other core mechanics for the game. He’ll be posting an open beta of the game on the Hebanon Games Patreon so you can download and play it yourself. We talk about the process of updating a game’s rules and I give an update on my next RPG, now titled Labyrinth Signal. Follow Hebanon Games on DrivethruRPG and Itch.io.

Do you struggle with writing RPG scenarios for your home group quickly? I’ve been writing scenarios for the RPPR Patreon so I’ve had to learn how to get a good scenario out without spending a lot of time on it. I’ve figured out a few tips that can help you. This episode is on Youtube with visuals to go along with the narration. News: I am writing scenarios for the RPPR Patreon – check out the modern horror scenario After You Die, Tell God He’s Next and the Mausritter scenario Gunpla Island. The RPPR Youtube Channel has a lot of original content, including: Let’s Play of Still Wakes the Deep Watch the Pin Quest 2024 video  

I interviewed the CEO of Free League Publishing, Tomas Härenstam at Gencon this year. We talk about Free League’s approach to creating games, current trends in RPG design, and their upcoming second edition of the Alien RPG. Learn more about Free League Publishing on their website.

I caught up with Gareth Hanrahan at Gencon this year to talk about the Borellus Connection, a new campaign for Fall of Delta Green. Find out the secrets behind this globe hopping 1960s campaign! This interview has been mirrored on Youtube.