Rene Plays Games

Time for another Tabletop Tutorial, the series where I play two player TTRPGs with friends and we learn them together.   BIG OL' CONTENT WARNINGS FOR THIS EPISODE: Death, Alcoholism, Inappropriate Crude Body Humor, Body Horror, and probably a whole lot more, be careful with this one, please. It's heavy.   I'm once again joined by Troy from the DMs After Dark to play the heartbreaking two player TTRPG The Time We Have by Elliot Davis, a.k.a. moreblueberries, an excellent game designer as well as tabletop roleplaying mind from podcasts such as Talk of the Table and My First Dungeon, both regular staples in my podcast audio diet.   The Time We Have is a game about brothers in the post-apocalypse. There are a lot of potential settings provided with the game that cover more genres than near-future Earth, but the truth of the game is that one of you has been infected and only has 6 days to live. The two brothers sit on other side of a closed door and have conversations until the end or a hard decision must be made.    No spoilers for our episode, but safe to say Troy and I were both very moved by the session. The game has a rule that at the end of the game, you open the door and hug the other player, and for a game that gets this heavy, it's a very nice touch. Go get The Time We Have.   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark MECH | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Radio Sound FX from https://www.zapsplat.com Body Fall Glass B & Glass Crunching Steps by Monument Studios Lifeless Eyes Watching by Vindsvept Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

It's spooky month 2025, and that means bonus episodes! They can be Halloween-y, generally spooky, or related to common tropes of the season, but this year it's kicking off with a one-shot of The Witch Is Dead by the incomparable Grant Howitt!    The Witch Is Dead is a one-page RPG by the master of the one-pager about a kind and good witch who is brutally and unfairly MURDERED by a witch-hunter! Luckily, you are the cute woodland animals this wonderful witch taught some spells, and she told you to avenge her death and bring her killer's eyes to her body within one week so she may be resurrected. Will our chaotic crew be able to pull it off?!   Go get Grant's excellent games, support his Patreon, and if you're feeling really creative, he's currently hosting the One Hundred One Page Games Jam over on itch, where you can combine two of his absurd one-page RPGs into one game and submit it for folks to play! So do it!   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): DMs After Dark Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Join the DMs After Dark discord!   Tabletop Two-torial! It's the second episode of this two-player "learn a game together" series and this time I'm joined by Troy from the DMs After Dark for a game of Hunt(er/ed) by Meghan Cross & Dillin Apelyan of the One Shot Podcast Network! Hunt(er/ed) is a game of a hunter and a monster, and the back and forth in the game of life and death between them. The mechanics are SO fun and involve literally racing to try and roll doubles on dice faster, and then consulting prompts from a deck of cards which deepen the meaning behind the hunt with each step forward and back, coming closer or letting your prey slip between your fingers...   We had a blast with this game and I totally recommend it! Hope you enjoy!   Content Warnings: Language, descriptions of death, nightmares, and guilt.   Also, the Monument Studios folks are about to launch their Fantasy+ tabletop audio app after their successful Kickstarter, so I used music from their catalog for this episode to show you how you can use their library to improve your games! Go check it out! ----more---- If you haven't but you'd like to, get yourself some stickers or give me some feedback by filling out my poll here.   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark MECH | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Across the Plains by Monument Studios High Noon by Monument Studios Knife Sharpen by Monument Studios The Stranger by TabletopAudio.com Emotional Dulcimers by Monument Studios Traveler Guitar by Monument Studios Wicked by Monument Studios Aftermath by Monument Studios Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands  

A new series?! I hope so! I'd love to make this concept for a monthly episode happen, so if you have a game that you're itching to play but have no one to play it with, please email me at reneplaysgamespod@gmail.com !   For the very first Tabletop Tutorial I'm joined by Dan Bronson-Lowe of Almost Bedtime Theater, a podcast of a father and daughter (and her cousin) who learn and play TTRPGs together. You may also know Dan as the creator of the Crit Award winning solo TTRPG The Librarian's Apprentice or his other games you can find on his itch.io page.   We sit down to play i'm sorry did you say street magic? by Caro Asercion, which is an incredible city-building game derived from games like Microscope by Ben Robbins.   By the end, we build a pretty awesome little city built around a strange natural incursion into an infinite library as part of Dan's upcoming Song of the Scryptwyrm Backerkit campaign for Pocketopia! So if you like what you hear, go sign up to be notified when it goes live and get a copy so you can play in this endless library! ----more---- If you haven't but you'd like to, get yourself some stickers or give me some feedback by filling out my poll here.   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark MECH | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Evenfall by Vindsvept Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an incredible new game by French developers Sandfall Interactive, and it is AMAZING. This is not a light lift for you TTRPG folks who may want to emulate the game at the table, but that doesn't mean there isn't a LOT for you to mine for your own games without having to try and replicate this masterpiece.   Take home notes: Asymmetric design is awesome, and each character feeling like they're doing something unique and totally different is a great way to keep things interesting while finding combos and letting people have an experience that matches their preferred style of game while at the same table. Flawed characters are better than "good ones," because flaws give your characters things to challenge, overcome, or fall into to make their triumph over a struggle that much better. Slow. Drip. Knowledge to pace decision making and draw parallels or crossroads for certain characters based on information learned about the wider world or story of your campaign. This makes conflict both external and internal to the characters and resonates more than just "wow that was a tough combat!" Monoco is the best, you won't convince me otherwise.   Oh and good news, the team at Sandfall has already said that Expedition 33 is only one of the many stories they want to tell within the greater concept of Clair Obscur. THAT'S EXCITING!   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Music by Tunetank from Pixabay

Welcome back to Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences by telling the next episode or next book "You will not break me," and soldiering on anyway because goddamnit, Donut, someone's gotta try and save all these ideas.   This month we're talking about the absurdly popular (and deserving) LitRPG book series Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. These books follow Carl and his ex-girlfriend's prize show champion cat Donut into a televised level-0 funnel on the newest season of Dungeon Crawler World, a popular galactic game show where survivors fight through 18 levels of awful dungeon in hopes of making it out some kind of alive.   This series is 1) hilarious, 2) way better than it has any right being, and 3) somehow has you crying over the most insanely out-of-pocket characters in truly deranged dungeon level concepts, but it's full of great ideas, too! And it's the 2nd book series we've done on Mining Media that is actually getting a TTRPG!   I've been sick, so this is all you're getting for a description this week. Listen to the episode and let me know if you think I missed anything good to use at the gaming table!   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/hoffy-beats/victory-lap 

Welcome back to Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences by missing my chance to say the right thing, then botching the chance I got to redeem myself, then thinking it's all hopeless until the stars align and we're standing across from one another in the first place we ever met... We're talking Romance!  Continuing our February Valentine's theme through to Mining Media, let's talk about the oft-ill-handled but ever so tempting and promising idea of romantic plots in your tabletop RPGs.    I watched a lot of rom-coms and referenced a fair amount of my RPG collection for helpful language and sections of books talking about handling romance responsibly, safely, and carefully, and here's my take-home points for romance at the table: Consent & Communication is non-negotiable. Romance is different for everyone and honest discussions about themes or scenes or anything in between that may come up as one character explores their relationship should be open to the table at all times. Let it simmer. Go slow, let it ramp up over the course of multiple (or many) sessions. Court of Blades uses a progress clock, think of it like that, you may have that spark the first time, but building up that trust and relationship takes time.  Make it messy. Complicate it with NPCs, outside perception of the relationship, missed opportunities when adventure/the mission calls, miscommunication leading to bridges to be mended, etc. Listen to RPG Design Panelcast - Level Up Your Sexy Game <-- This episode is great. Games Referenced:  Apocalypse World 2e Blue Rose Court of Blades Good Society Kids on Bikes Masks: A New Generation Monsterhearts 2e Pasion de las Pasiones Star Crossed Homework: Think about your character and what type of person might draw their romantic side out. How would their behavior change? How would that affect their goals, existing relationships, and more?   Now go put on a rom-com or grab your favorite romance novel and tell me what kind of plot-line your character would want to explore!   ----more---- I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: From Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/needmospace/afternoon-nap  License code: ZNENRQQPKF9I3LSJ

Welcome back to Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences by reminiscing on the innocent wonder of winter holiday magic in our youths... or was that just me?   This month I want to talk about mining holiday movies for ideas for your festive one-shots, whether you take a break to do something silly or expand the lore of your ongoing game's universe or prep something entirely from scratch for holiday shenanigans - there's gold in them there cheesy movies.   Take home points & some ideas based on holiday movies: Everything in the one-shot should reinforce the themes of the holidays - community, charity, family (found or otherwise), innocence, memory, and tradition. If it can't reinforce these themes, lean hard into the setting - go full winter wonderland. A Muppet Christmas Carol (or any Christmas Carol, really, but Muppets >>>) - have your party experience visitations from ghosts of past, present, and future based on their actions throughout the campaign (or make specific backstories part of the character creation), then give them a chance to right their wrongs before it's too late. Nightmare Before Christmas - This one's all setting. Have a transplanar hub where the spirits of the holidays are literally their own demiplanes or extradimensional areas, then have some of the traditions of the holiday they know of & what the party sees clash. While they figure out the true spirit of the holiday, chaos has escaped (or gotten in) and they have to fix things! Die Hard - This one's perfect, just recreate it and reskin everything. Holiday celebration at an isolated location, lots of bad guys doing bad things, the party has to balance stealth and efficacy achieving their goals, with each success and failure heightening the tension in the race between party & bad guys to succeed. Klaus - The party finds themselves in an isolated location for the holidays, but there is no festive cheer or spirit because the village/area is inhabited by two factions at war. The party must make connections on both sides, earn little bits of trust, find ways the two sides can connect and come together for the holiday, and just as things seem to be going well, one small infraction threatens all that progress - how will the party bridge the gap?! Hot Frosty / Jack Frost - An inanimate object is awakened by true holiday magic, but for the most part it's just causing trouble. While most of the town is up in arms and wants this thing brought to justice, the few who've seen it in action can explain that it's naive and means well, the disasters aren't its fault! Fix the problems, find the magic being, and help everyone see the good in it or something equally cheesy. Now go get your notebook, pop on some cheesy holiday movie, and tell me what you come up with! ----more---- I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands Sleigh Bells Sound Effect by GowlerMusic -- https://freesound.org/s/265458/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 Cozy Town by Qlowdy | https://soundcloud.com/qlowdymusic Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Welcome back to Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences by using every monitoring drone we have access to to analyze every last bit of information and set our performance stability to 98% efficiency.   This week we're talking about The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, a far future dystopian sci-fi series that follows Murderbot, the Sec-Unit with freedom from its governor module as it explores the universe with free will for the first time and protects humans from being stupid and hurting themselves while just trying to watch its media.   It's an incredible series and inspired my character ISIL-8 in my NOTORIOUS Trilogy Mode series.   The take home points are: Go smaller with your adventure arcs and keep them contained to small 1-2 location scenarios which build on the bigger world and campaign / story you're weaving at the table Consider how perspectives would flavor interactions between characters based on the major player factions of the world (governments, corporations, guilds) and the people who operate within them (humans, non-humans, family units, etc.) Homework: take one of your favorite books, episodes, etc. and plot it out like a pointcrawl with different types of encounters to be undertaken in a small, contained arc.   In case you're reading this and are feeling incredibly generous, I started a Ko-Fi page to cover the cost of podcast hosting, video conferencing, and transcription software subscriptions. No pressure, but if you donate I'll virtually hug and/or hi-five you, your call.   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands Let's Stay In by Braden Deal from Uppbeat | https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/lets-stay-in 

We're back to Mining Media for this month, because I keep seeing "How do you hack 5e to do Pokemon?!" and I don't have the hair to tear out over it... so let's talk bringing everyone's favorite monster catcher/befriender to the table!   The thing about Pokemon is that it's so much more than just an 8-bit handheld video game now, there's multiple TV series, video game series, manga, movies (even a live-action one with the guy who plays Deadpool!), a card game! So where do you begin thinking about how to port to the table with dice?   I think the thing that most RPGs made to replicate the Pokemon experience miss is the relationship between the Trainer and the Pokemon. Lots of games have been made that break down the battle mechanics of the games REALLY well, but that's really not as interesting as the story of the Trainers in a world with Pokemon, which makes the environmental storytelling potential INCREDIBLE.   So here are the take home points: If you're looking for games to play that can do Pokemon, I'd recommend Animon Story by Zak Barouh, or the podcast Critical Ditto's hack of Monster of the Week, appropriately called Pocket Monster of the Week Focus less on the combat and worrying about the numbers when battling, and more on the relationship and out-of-combat potential of your 'mon pals. Those are going to be what make your story shine more than the battling. Lean into the possibilities of the world where creatures can have such profound impacts on their surroundings, and make interesting encounters about problems from those that don't just have solutions involving combat. Make your evil organizations understandable given the truths of the region you're playing in and make sure they're defensible by the NPCs in the world, otherwise why would they still be around? And, if you're still reading this, go get some of the Pokemon Adventures manga, they're so good...   Download Rene's One-Page RPG One Last Quest and bring back your favorite characters for one more mission as elderly versions of themselves!   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands Chaconne Dreamy by Monument Studios

Get deep enough into the indie tabletop RPG scene and eventually you'll come up with an idea that you want to play out in a game, but you can't find a good match for it (despite the thousands of games out there). So what do you do? You start making one yourself!   Most people homebrew rules in their favorite RPGs, and if you think about it, even that is game design in a way. You're no longer playing the game you were before right out of the book or box, you've added your own piece to engage with the story that you felt worked better in a particular situation. It may seem crazy, but anyone can make a game, either hacking an existing system or coming up with something entirely new, it just depends on how much work you're willing to put into it!   In this episode, Rene talks about all the games he's got in various states of development and completion, either through recognizing a niche that hasn't been explored well enough, or just an idea he couldn't get out of his silly head.   Please reach out if any of these ideas seem good to you and let's playtest them or urge me to finish them! Empires of Rust - Post-Catastrophe Exploration & Community Building RPG BRP Design Challenge - T.I.M.E. Unit; Time Travel RPG Party Animals - Young player RPG where you play animals working together MECH - Carved by RUNE solo RPG pitting mech vs. kaiju Shared Dice Pool / Multiple Resolution Mechanics Modular Classless Progression System Cell(F) Defense - Play as white blood cells in the human body during infection/injury The Estate - Tarot prompt-based year of an artist at a legendary estate A Modern Discovery of Magic - What if magic was discovered in the 1910s? Candles in the Dark Library - Dark academia Forged in the Dark Decktectives - 2-player Buddy Cop RPG using a deck of cards & poker mechanics All That Jazz - A music-making improv game of tossing dice and filling out sheet music Lumen & Nox - The battle between light & dark in us all with Mass Effect style morality tracking & grid-based combat where light/dark affects your options Pokemon TCG RPG - Just a way to use those old pokemon cards to tell shared 'mon stories without the many overtuned fan-made Pokemon RPGs out there...   Download Rene's Finished Games (for free!): One Last Quest - bring back your favorite characters for one more mission as elderly versions of themselves! Pine Island - Rene & Christian's first game for the PocketQuest 2022 summer game jam. Play as campers or counselors at a summer camp where nothing at all creepy will happen, surely...   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Welcome to another Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences. In this episode we're talking about Atlus' video game franchise Persona. These JRPGs are some of the best video games I've ever played, they're full of great tactical turn-based combat, interesting dungeons, shadow worlds and slice of life as teenagers in modern Japan. But, most importantly, these games have TONS of great stuff to consider yoinking for your games!   Take home points: Mechanizing social ranks between PCs and NPCs encourages them to search out certain types of scenes, interactions, and through introspection, character development, and improving bonds in the real world, their combat prowess increases in certain ways. Use time as pressure - the game happens day to day (so do most RPGs), but when your ability in battle is tied to your handling of responsibilities and relationships in the real world, what you do on those days begins to matter more. Classic roles with a twist - in the games, your party will fill in with the "physical attacker," the "glass cannon magic user," and more traditional roles, but each character uses a specific type of magic that affects different enemies, so even when their main role isn't applicable, their secondary unique characteristic is! Encourage this type of idea so your characters always have an interesting option   Now go play some Persona and get back to me in a few months!   Download Rene's One-Page RPG One Last Quest and bring back your favorite characters for one more mission as elderly versions of themselves!   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Your Love Is What I Need by Soundroll from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/your-love-is-what-i-need

Welcome to another Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences. In this episode we're talking about Amazon Prime's new video game to TV adaptation Fallout. Based on the hit video game franchise, season one takes some liberties with what's been established in the games but succeeds in making an enjoyable, pretty true to universe story that uses a lot of great techniques you can pull for your tabletop RPG campaigns.   The take home points are: Give your characters "ghosts" (from YouTuber ALuckyMuse), which are people, events, and obligations from their past which continue to haunt PCs, either through traumatic experiences, voices always heard when they look inward (trusted or derogatory), or similar which inform their misconceptions about the world, their beliefs, and can justify their actions when they're not necessarily the best. Don't worry about character imbalance when it comes to power. Everyone has a role in the party, it's okay for someone to be overpowered in one aspect, but make sure it has a drawback (e.g. the Ghoul's need for the drugs, Maximus's inexperience with the jumpsuit, Lucy's naivety). When adapting canon, don't play in what's known - focus on the "what ifs." What if this took place in the northern forests of Canada? Each faction might still exist, but they'd have very different goals, problems, and methods. What if we played our story before the events of New Vegas? or after?   Download Rene's One-Page RPG One Last Quest and bring back your favorite characters for one more mission as elderly versions of themselves!   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/adi-goldstein/i-dont-need-your-love License code: FSMKKQOUT4ZD4EHK

Welcome to another Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences. In this episode we're talking about Fonda Lee's incredible gangster fantasy trilogy The Green Bone Saga. This series is one of *very* few (maybe the only?) that I've rated 5 stars down the line. It has enough magic and urban fantasy to feel wondrous, incredibly emotional character development, intense martial arts action scenes, harsh betrayals, drugs, sex, crime, corruption, generational trauma and expectations... I could go on and on forever - please read it and talk to me about it!   Anyway, the take home points for how to make your TTRPG sessions better with The Green Bone Saga include: Hack your favorite system to use the Jade Disciplines as Stats (along with others for non-Green PCs) Consider using a relationship map/web to constantly keep pressure on your PCs from their connections, making every move dangerous in a faction-based turf war If your setting has magic, include a culture or people who are immune or resistant to that magic - how are they viewed in society? How do they overcome this? When making factions always have allied, antagonistic, and neutral parties to the party's goals. The Penitents & religious folk of these books are very cool, silent monks who are the ears of the gods - give them emotional, cultural depth   In the end, I think this episode was less "here's what to use in your game," and more "PLEASE READ THESE AND LET'S PLAY AN RPG CAMPAIGN IN THIS WORLD TOGETHER." If you're interested, please let me know. And Fonda Lee, if you ever see this and want someone to make your world an RPG, I'll help!   Download Rene's One-Page RPG One Last Quest and bring back your favorite characters for one more mission as elderly versions of themselves!   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Midnight Room by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space https://escp-music.bandcamp.com

Welcome to another Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences. In this episode we're talking about Delicious In Dungeon - a manga turned anime currently streaming on Netflix about a group of adventurers delving a massive dungeon and eating the monsters they encounter along the way!   This show is so obviously inspired by traditional TTRPGs from decades past, but does such an incredible job of environmental storytelling through meticulously designing each level of the titular Dungeon to portray a well thought out, functioning ecosystem. As a biologist/ecologist by day, this show is inspiring in its devotion to depicting believable dungeon ecology that helps tell a cohesive story and makes for much more interesting monsters/encounters.   So the next time you're prepping (as a GM) or exploring (as a player) a dungeon, take the time to think about how every creature here is carving out its place in the food web/ecosystem, what resources are abundant or scarce and how that affects survival or behaviors in the nearby region, and ask questions about how you can use them to your advantage!   If you want to read it, here's Sage Latorra's A 16 HP Dragon article!   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Music by Patrick A. from Pixabay

Welcome to this month's Mining Media where I help you think about ideas from other forms of entertainment that can elevate your tabletop RPG experience. In this episode we're talking about Sabotage Studio's retro JRPG inspired Sea of Stars - a love letter to the 90s/early 2000s 16-bit JRPGs of my youth.   The game itself is a beautiful game with very evocative locations and, most importantly for this episode, interesting combat mechanics that I think would work to spice up your RPG's combats in very cool ways. The main takeaways from this episode are to include mini-puzzle like conditions to be achieved by your PCs mid-fight in order to mitigate (or altogether stop) a powerful special attack from going off, as well as encouraging teamwork combos in battle through connections made between PCs in or out of combat.   I forgot to mention another great bit of Fabula Ultima's combat mechanics that would work well for that telegraph/countdown to special attack is their option to take the Objective action and work toward a clock that would change the battle. It is generally used for more "end the conflict overall" type of actions, but could be scaled back potentially for this kind of use.   Games Mentioned in this Episode: Fabula Ultima TTJRPG | BREAK! RPG   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Lucid Dreaming by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space https://escp-music.bandcamp.com

Welcome to the first episode of Mining Media, a short brainstorming style series that will come out every 3rd Tuesday of the month where I discuss a book, TV series, movie, video game, or any other kind of media I've been binging and think about what kind of inspiration and ideas you can take from it to use at your table and better your gaming experience.   This first episode dives into John Gwynne's The Faithful and the Fallen book series. It's generally low-fantasy and skirts the edges of grimdark, with plenty of battles, violence, and classic fantasy tropes worn proudly on its chain shirt. It subverts some tropes, leans into others, but reads very relatable to tabletop RPG campaigns, which I think makes it a great series to talk about mining ideas from.   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Rain, Book And Cup Of Tea by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space https://escp-music.bandcamp.com

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   We're kicking off 2026 with PJ Sack, a fellow solo podcaster and host of the excellent A Wasteland Story Fallout 2d20 solo AP as well as the incredible The Solo Roleplayers Podcast, which you will absolutely love if you're listening to me.   PJ and I sat down to talk about solo roleplaying in general and PJ's oft-repeated advice: "Get those games off your shelf." A fellow fan of variety, PJ often has 8+ stories and games going on at any time, and sometimes it's just because opening that new rulebook and getting ideas means taking 20 minutes to just give it a shot. And once that happens, you've got a story going that you can always come back to. We talk about his fantastic framing for A Wasteland Story, wanting to interview and connect with more likeminded people, and just how wonderful solo gaming can be.   Some Games Mentioned In The Episode: Modiphius Fallout 2d20 Beetle Knight The One Ring 2e Boromir Lives! (Solo Variant Rules for The One Ring by Will at the End of the World) Dolmenwood Daggerheart Forbidden Lands Crown & Skull   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   The last Perspective Checks of 2025 is a wonderful conversation with Kat The Dungeon Mom, a GM, actual play performer, teacher, mom, and so much more as a community member. We sit down to talk about raising the next generation of nerds, maintaining a curiosity and interested approach to new things in familiar spaces, and recontextualizing the concept of the broad, internet-sized TTRPG community more in terms of "the village," a smaller scope, more intimately involved group of people playing games and helping one another.   I cannot recommend the actual play All Our Faults that Kat is on enough, it is an amazing Monsterhearts 2 show that will make you feel things, and you should not shy away from feeling big things!   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   This month's episode is with Craig Hatler (a.k.a. Tezrak the Impslayer most places on the internet), a game designer and educator who came on to talk about the importance of a game's communication and resources when sitting down to learn how to play, run the game, or even for designers before it goes out. We talk about his game Shadowlight & Personae, a genre-agnostic neutral system aiming to be able to emulate any type of story, and the work he's done to improve his layout, resources, and more.   This episode bounces around a lot, but we primarily stick to the topic of "how can we, as designers or players engaging with a game, ensure that the rules and mechanics are effectively spelled out so we can just get right to the gameplay." Even as an admitted hoarder of TTRPGs, the act of sitting down to read a rulebook isn't the most exciting thing, I'd rather be reading an actual book to get ideas going, I just need the game book to explain how to do the thing.    We talk about Daggerheart's cards, pre-generated character sheets, player resource sheets, the read-along rules from For the Queen, and more to lower your game's barrier to learning!   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands