In this episode, we pick the five RPGs every role player should have on his or her shelf, including which edition to have. These aren’t our five favourite games or the five most popular games of all time. Nope. These are five games whose mere possession will contribute to your overall gaming experience.

These are the criteria we used. Play along at home.

Innovative
Impact
Representative of a specific type of a game
Widespread
Paid us to mention them (Kidding. No company took us up on our offer.)

In a world where restraint has died, rifts crisscross the Earth, opening portals to other dimensions. Glitter Boys (not what you think), Cyber-Knights (what you think), Juicers (if you think “post-apocalyptic Lance Armstrong”, then what you think), and vagabonds (what you think – seriously) battle the evil Coalition, demons, and vampires. Are you ready for infinite possibilities, limited only by your imagination?™ (Yep. Palladium trademarked that.)

In this episode, Lyal and Chris provide an introduction to the game where anything goes and everyone is armoured like a tank: Rifts.

Well, hello again. Meet the Idle Red Hands for the second time. Even after two years, their stories on how they got started in gaming remain the same. From the drug-infested, Magic-playing ghettos of Philly to the cheese-eating, cheese-wearing wasteland of Wisconsin to the nuclear-fearing, sparkly-scarf-loving ground zero of West Germany, these three gamers found and fell in love with the hobby.

Listen for the answers to these questions:

Is Heroquest is an RPG?
Who was the “inspiration” for the Punisher?
How many stolen D&D products has Chris bought?

D&D retroclone + name-dropping + “immersion mechanics” = THE SECRET FIRE (But does it equal a good game?)

In this episode, we discuss what the new character roles could be in D&D 5e. We also look at THE SECRET FIRE, which promises to be nostalgic and innovative, dramatic and tactical, and all caps and, no, just all caps.

It’s only our second Creature Feature and we’re already pushing the premise to include occupations. We discuss criminal organizations and how to include them in your games.

Oddly, we don’t mention Scarface at all. While this means we don’t mine this rich source of ideas, you’re spared listening to our versions of “Say hello to my little friend.” Chris does do The Godfather 3 quote. Yeah, that one.

To law enforcement: This episode is not an endorsement of crime or an attempt to glamourize it.

To criminal organizations: We’re obviously not talking about you. Are we cool?