Roleplay Rescue

This one is all about the call-in feedback for the discussions I recently shared with Anthony, aka Runeslinger, from Casting Shadows on the topic of the Story Divide. More specifically, these messages largely relate to the longest episode ever - S15 Ep9 What are Roleplaying Games - in which we discussed the emergence of the Story Divide through the lens of what game designers were writing in their books.Big thanks to Anthony, aka Runeslinger, for adding his responses to this call-in episode. Thanks also to JonM, Jason C, Carl D, Wiebe, Bob, and BJ for the calls this episode… and also to Marnie for the encouragement. Without you all, this discussion wouldn’t happen and my thinking wouldn’t have been stretched even further. Thank you!Game on!Casting Shadows: castingshadowsblog.com/The Accidental "Lie" in RPGs:castingshadowsblog.com/?p=13470Lucifer's Lexicon: On RPG Concepts and Terms: castingshadowsblog.com/2025/04/28/lucifers-lexicon-on-rpg-concepts-and-terms/The Alexandrian: Roleplaying Games versus Storytelling Games:thealexandrian.net/wordpress/6517/roleplaying-games/roleplaying-games-vs-storytelling-gamesRoleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

This one’s another conversation with Runeslinger, aka Anthony from the Casting Shadows blog, podcast, and Youtube channel. He hails from South Korea and, having just enjoyed a week off work, I was able to cue up some chats with him.This conversation is essentially the third part that began in Episode 6, The Story Divide, and explores - through the lens of D&D - the process by which the character became a protagonist… and the impact this change had on play.Big thanks to Anthony for coming to talk. We do hope it helps to illustrate the Story Divide that we spoke about some weeks back and offers some insight on different ways of approaching roleplaying games.Game on!Casting Shadows: castingshadowsblog.com/The Accidental "Lie" in RPGs:https://castingshadowsblog.com/?p=13470Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

This one’s a conversation with Runeslinger, aka Anthony from the Casting Shadows blog, podcast, and Youtube channel. He hails from South Korea and, having just enjoyed a week off work, I was able to cue up some chats with him.This conversation continues from Episode 6, The Story Divide, and delves deeper into the history of the emergence of a perception that roleplaying games are about storytelling as opposed to being about, well, something else.The approach was to dig out several texts - both in book form off our shelves and PDF format digitally - and examine those oft overlooked sections entitled something like, “What are roleplaying games?”Texts referenced include: Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974), Basic Role-Playing (1980), RuneQuest (1978), Stormbringer (1985 et al), Traveller (1977 & 1981), AD&D 1e Player's Handbook (1978), Cypher System Rulebook (2019), Your Best Game Ever (2019), Tales of the Valiant (2024), D&D 3rd Edition (2000), Vampire: The Masquerade (1991 et al), Apocalypse World (2010)... and a few others too.Big thanks again to Anthony, aka Runeslinger, for sharing this conversation. It's posted by us both in hope and with fear... the hope being that the community will find it useful.Game on!Casting Shadows: castingshadowsblog.com/New blog --> The Accidental "Lie" in RPGs:https://castingshadowsblog.com/?p=13470Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

This one’s a conversation with a new friend. My guest hails from Florida, USA, and this is probably the beginning of a sequence of chats I’d like to have with him.Our focus was on what my guest calls, "world first" play and we specifically take his currently running Twilight 2000 campaign as an example. Yes, we talk GURPS and we talk modern post-apoc but that's not quite the point: this is about methodology.Big thanks up front to Patrick for coming to talk!Game on!Pat's T2K blog: t2kcampaigns.comRoleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

This one’s an eclectic collection of thoughts emerging from listener messages and the ongoing experience of running games in the wake of recent episodes.When I started this podcast, it was really about getting my concern about losing gamers to the experience of play - of people giving up the play which enriches our lives under the pressures of modern living. At the same time, I was aware that the title - Roleplay Rescue - implies that the show is about recovering the art and depth of roleplaying. Strangely, all these years later, that is what is emerging.This episode, I tune back in to the community with a handful of messages received over the past month. I’ll share a few thoughts, riffing off those calls and I hope that’ll give us a worthwhile few minutes of content.Thanks to Steve, Jason, Patrick, and Jon for the call-in!Game on!Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

This one’s a conversation with an old friend. My guest hails from South Korea and this continues a sequence of chats that we’ve shared over a number of months. Fear not though - this episode stands alone.Big thanks again to Anthony, aka Runeslinger from Casting Shadows for having this conversation and allowing me to record it.Game on!Casting Shadows: castingshadowsblog.com/Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

What if roleplaying games are not about telling stories?Is there another way to approach these games?And what happens if we stop treating the game like it’s a movie?This one is about expressing where I am in my own quest for improved roleplaying game experiences for my players. As the GM, this episode discusses where I am coming from and helps to explain some of the choices that I am making.Big thanks to Wiebe, Bob, and Jason for the call-ins!Game on!Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

This one's a conversation with Joe, the host of the Dekahedron podcast where he talks about his love of the tabletop RPG hobby. On his show Joe talks about a range of stuff from OSR gameplay ideas through to newer (?) games like Fudge and Dungeon World.Joe's renowned for his honesty in RPG reviews and it’s that which triggered an invitation to the show. He recently did a couple of episodes reviewing Fudge (1995) and so I invited him on to explore it a little more.Big thanks to Joe for taking the time to talk Fudge. I know I enjoyed it and I hope you did to!Game on!Links to stuff in the episode:Dekahedron Podcast: www.dekahedron.comDekahedron on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIenKcZZRol5yCPO46iaAUJgq-Ju5bMiThe Anchorite APA: sites.google.com/view/anchorite/homeFudge Website: https://fudgerpg.com/Fudge 1995 Rules PDF (free):FUDGE 1995 Edition (PDF Bookmarked) 1.0orhttps://fudgerpg.com/goodies/fudge-files/download/3-core/54-fudge-1995-pdf-bookmarked.htmlRoleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/

What happens if we drop the script and the expectation that this is going to be a thought-provoking analysis of some aspect of roleplaying?What happens if we lean into improvisation and see where things end up going?What if I just riff off the call-ins and other seemingly-random thoughts that pop into my head?Wouldn’t that just be a descent into the raw and unedited mess of the GM’s Journal?Or would it be me becoming unshackled?Big thanks to Jason Wiebe and Carl D for the call-ins!Game on!Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/