The Big Red Couch RPG Podcast

Have you ever wanted to get involved in running tabletop roleplaying games and thought “But I have no ideas!”?<br /> <br /> The Big Red Couch is designed to show exactly how easy it is to get from random notions that stick in your mind to playable concepts, all through the medium of the kind of casually weird spitballing that gamers engage in at the best of times.<br /> <br /> In every issue, the intrepid contributors to the Big Red Couch brave the noisome wonders of The Mystery Box to produce a randomly-selected seed idea, then return Some Time Later to share what they came up with and discuss how those concepts might work as games.<br /> <br /> If we can do it, anyone can: that’s the whole idea.<br /> <br /> Along the road, we discuss what RPG systems might work for implementing different concepts, together with reasons how or why. This frequently involves adaptation of systems from their original settings to the point where they creak under the strain.

Gen Con 2024, Some Time Later

Craig went to Gen Con, and is forcing you to hear about it,Ben tries to moderate this audio equivalent of a “What I Did On My Holidays” slideshow,And we ask the audient how they like to do conventions. Tāmaki Makaurau Gen Con New York – New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Episode One […]

11-17
01:08:41

GenCon 2023 Day Five Report

The fifth day out of “the four best days of gaming”? Is this worst day of gaming? Or the day of worst gaming? Reminiscence, nostalgia, and unhinged grumbling trail in the wake of our hero’s journey, the pains of old wounds and faded glories herald the end of yet another lost era. Professional Game Master […]

08-08
33:43

GenCon 2023 Day Four Report

A tale ripped from the headlines, rude villainy abounds.When is checkout time again? Film – Lorenzo’s_Oil (1992) Gizmodo.com article on GenCon 2023 Card Theft Urban Shadows: Second Edition by Magpie Games – Kickstarter page in fulfillment phase. Rapscallion Quickstart also by Magpie Games Family Tettigoniidae – Kaydids from all over. (T. Jones – Pretty bog-standard […]

08-07
34:36

GenCon 2023 Day Three Report

Despite the Southern chill these flames still burn brightly and while the Devil dances in the hearth, he may have bitten off more than he can chew. Orc Stomp XIII 5k Fun Run – (T. Jones ~ Enjoying the note “Tournament: No, this is not a tournament.”) Chew from Imagining Games KiwiRPG – Kēmu Whakatau […]

08-06
38:25

GenCon 2023 Day Two Report

The promise of glorious perspiration hangs in the morning air.From waterborne villainy to a terrible hunger, a course is plotted.Hope, and sturdy footwear, may yet carry the day. Avatar Legends by Magpie Games Chew from Imagining Games

08-05
20:34

GenCon 2023 Day One Report

An iron steed shies at the thunder of the Old Gods.The dawn of a new age, as life stirs on a blasted plane.At some point… breakfast. Well There’s Your Problem Podcast – A podcast (with slides) about engineering disasters and systemic fail. Precision_Railroading AKA precision scheduled railroading (PSR) The Old Gods of Appalachia Podcast and […]

08-04
24:02

GenCon 2023 Reports Inbound

What’s this? A new episode? The land quakes and the seas roar, for they have returned like the heroes of old! Well, like old heroes anyway. People. Old people. Never meet your heroes, kids. Biding his time in the foetid swamp of Wah-Shing-Tun, the fearless traveler Craig set his sights on the “four and a […]

07-31
25:37

GenCon 2022 Report for Monday 8th

Now GenCon is over for another year, it is a time for quiet reflection, sensations of creeping dread, and a commitment to doing more gaming. Better even! Yes, this is late. We are so, so tired. Tentacle Town Le Chat Noir Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior The Underarm bowling incident of 1981 Dr Nick Holm: how […]

08-11
22:20

GenCon 2022 Report for Sunday 7th

As the day dawns on the morning of the last day of GenCon for another year, Craig reminisces about this convention’s atmosphere and a strange sense of gamer melancholy. Wayfaring Strangers by Games from the Wild Wood Talismonger – Shadowrun slang Simple Simon (nursery rhyme) TV – Supernatural Alice Isn’t Dead TV – The Sandman […]

08-08
32:51

GenCon 2022 Report for Saturday 6th

The second report from Craig's GenCon 2022 trip.

08-07
43:02

GenCon 2022 Report for Friday 5th

Craig's first report from GenCon 2022.

08-06
30:43

Episode One Hundred And Seventy Five – Gangsters Of Dreams / Goosedusa

Activate The Goose-ducer! – Descendants of an end-of-days science experiment battle the descendants of a different end-of-days science experiment through the use of yet another end-of-days science experiment. The Dream Police Want To Make Sure That Nothing Is Inside Your Head – Dreaming is illegal, Science Rays ensure that nobody dreams, and Z-Leggers smuggle stolen […]

06-10
01:06:03

Episode One Hundred And Seventy Four – Courtly Submarine Warfare

To My Esteemed Undersea Colleague – Beneath the ice of Europa, isolated Mecha Pilots on long patrols stay in touch by writing letters back & forth Aquapastoral – Flooding can be expected after a storm, but nobody expected the water to be 30 feet above the farmhouse roof, and they certainly didn’t expect the water […]

05-20
01:14:35

Episode One Hundred And Seventy Three – Pastry-Fu: Crouching Cruller, Hidden Donut

Donuts & Crullers – Ben starts to make a game about a TV Genre he hates, and ends up inventing a card mechanic for cooking competitions. 24/7 Coffee & Questions – Craig tries to come up with an explanation for the “high-level adventurer running a tavern” trope, and ends up with a mystery hiding in […]

04-29
01:08:31

Episode One Hundred And Seventy Two – An Unusual Amount Of Elvis

Presley Event Overload – The timeline is fracturing under a cascade of divergence events, splitting faster than they can be investigated, let alone dealt with. There’s no clear pattern to what’s happening, though a certain 20th Century musician seems to be affected by more of the changes than mere coincidence would permit. The Mystery Of […]

04-08
01:19:41

Episode One Hundred And Seventy One – It’s a Mad Max Utopia!

Be Our Guest? – Ever since the actual apocalypse, the Hosts at the Apocalypse World park really haven’t had a lot to do. Now that some Guests in dire need of help have arrived, a group of ‘wasteland marauders’ and ‘besieged remnants of civilization’ have to figure out how to bypass their own programmed scripts […]

03-18
01:04:52

Episode One Hundred And Seventy – Mad Science: Don’t try this at home kids

The Heroes are defeated, ground down by a controlling society. As the last remaining bastion of ‘otherness’, Mad Scientists reach out to children through the medium of educational television, trying to spark a sense of rebellion in the only people who can still hear them. Educational Television in a world of Science Heroes, Supergenius Villains, […]

02-24
48:32

Episode One Hundred And Sixty Nine – I Set The Filter To “Adventure”

A safe but dull utopia has an unexpected need for people who can go outside of the norm and venture into dangerous situations.They’re a bit light on those, as a society, but by relaxing the constraints a bit on the psych profiles, they’ve got some candidates who are within a few standard deviations of ‘Adventurous’. […]

02-04
56:44

Episode One Hundred And Sixty Eight – A Big Red Christmas

Craig tries to combine A Christmas Carol with Solo Shifts on a Spaceship, and fails, but Ben recovers the idea Ben pitches the idea of a Clip Show Holiday Episode of an RPG campaign, as a way to look back on the game so far & a sneaky way to see which bits the players […]

01-14
01:04:22

Actual Play 1 – Wanderhome

Ben, Craig, & Special Guest Terry attempt to get to grips with the “pastoral fantasy” RPG Wanderhome, and probably succeed, in our first approximate actual play episode. Wanderhome, by Jay Dragon, can be purchased from Possum Creek Games. Wanderhome is a pastoral fantasy role-playing game about traveling animal-folk, the world they inhabit, and the way […]

12-24
01:30:52

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