Show overview
Roll For Topic has been publishing since 2018, and across the 8 years since has built a catalogue of 193 episodes. That works out to roughly 140 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 35 min and 47 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Leisure show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 10 episodes already out so far this year.
From the publisher
GM/DM discussions on topics related to running tabletop games. Each episode is a 30-45 minute conversation about one specific topic chosen by rolling 1d10 on a table of topics. Roll for Topic's regular cohosts are Andy Rau and Chris Salzman. If you or your GM is interested in being a guest, drop us a line!
Latest Episodes
View all 193 episodesEpisode 193 – Elric! and Others
192 – Third Time’s a Charm
Episode 191 – Bringing Real-life Locations to the Game Table
Episode 190 – Props at the Game Table Revisited
Chris has been busy building props for a school play, and wonders how some of that energy might be expressed at the game table! Also, Andy and Chris discuss the joys of history and the ways they do and don’t make history and culture an important part of player characters.
Episode 189 – Do You Let Players Respec Their Characters?
Lots to catch up on this episode, including the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, edgelord vampire roleplaying from the 1990s, and Chris’ dilemma as a player: can he respec a PC that isn’t mechanically working the way he intended?
Episode 188 – Daggerheart Recap with Jess!
Chris and Jess talk about a small Daggerheart campaign that Jess ran and Chris played in! (Andy will be back next time!)
Episode 187 – Antarctic Cthulhu Weekend After-action Report
Andy’s back from his weekend GMing an Antarctic Cthulhu campaign, and Chris has questions! Topics covered include the value of creating special game events like this, the challenge of fighting a long campaign into a short weekend, and more.
Episode 186 – What Games Do You Bring on Trips?
Chris is heading off on a work trip, so discussion turns to which RPGs or board games you squeeze into your suitcase when traveling. With snow days and work trips imposing on our schedules, it’s a short episode–but we’ll be back next episode with a detailed breakdown of Andy’s epic Arkham Horror RPG weekend.
Episode 185 – Catch up
Andy and Chris have a lot to talk about! They discuss Splatbook, how the build-a-dungeon/play-a-dungeon went, the worst part of the D&D ruleset, Shadowdark, and Andy’s upcoming weekend game in a secluded cottage.
Episode 184 – Play-a-Dungeon 2025: Kaiju vs. Theme Park Employees
It’s time to play this year’s “Build-a-Dungeon”! Chris GMs a party of five intrepid amusement park employees as they try to save the fair from a rampaging kaiju. This is part of our annual tradition wherein we create an adventure collaboratively in one episode and play it in the next. For the making of this … Continue reading "Episode 184 – Play-a-Dungeon 2025: Kaiju vs. Theme Park Employees"
Episode 183 – Build-a-Dungeon 2025: Kaiju vs. Theme Park Employees
This is part 1 of our 2 part Build-A-Dungeon Play-a-Dungeon special for 2025! Chris and Andy are joined, yet again, by John Corey and Kyle Latino! In this episode we brainstorm and build out a one shot adventure that Chris will run in the following episode.
Episode 182 – Stranger Things, Doom, and One Shot Systems
Chris tries to get Andy to watch the new season of Stranger Things. Andy talks about Doom’s brilliance. Then they talk about simple systems for running one shots.
Episode 181 – Netcrawl, Blades, and 13th Age, Oh My!
Every TTRPG Kickstarter from the last few years seemed to fulfill this month, so Andy and Chris take an episode to go through the piles of shiny new roleplaying games they’ve acquired recently. Along the way they discuss the impact of strong authorial voices in RPG books and plot to ensnare the author of Netcrawl.
Episode 180 – How To Be a Good Player
Chris has found himself playing in two campaigns, so Andy and Chris talk about how he can be the best player he can be!
Episode 179 – Daggerheart, Draw Steel, and the Post-OGL Landscape
Chris and Andy take a break from their usual format and have an open discussion about Chris’ new Daggerheart game, and what has their attention now that a wave of post-OGL D&D-alikes are finally arriving. As a bonus, we learn about the corporate merch with which Chris bedecks himself.
Episode 178 – Stranger Things and Aliens
Andy and Chris talk about Stranger Things and then an issue that Andy had at the table with players and their pregen characters.
Episode 177 – RPG Trivia from RfT Con 2025
Every year, we host a game convention in Ann Arbor. And every year, a highlight of the con is our obscure RPG trivia contest! This is the live recording of RfT Con 2025’s trivia segment. How does your RPG trivia knowledge stack up?
Episode 176 – Autumn GM Plans and Convention Prep
Chris and Andy are busy planning RfT Con, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t brainstorming new campaigns they want to run. In this short pre-convention episode, they chat about the campaigns they’re gearing up to run this autumn/winter.
Episode 175 – How Do You Run a Game in Two Hours or Less? (with Garrett Douglas)
We revisit one of our earliest topics, this time with guest Garrett Douglas, creator of Wayne Scotting’s Guide to the Very Small Folk! Garrett shares insight from the many short-duration game sessions he’s run, but not before we chat Ars Magica and share our favorite Chicagoland game stores. Show notes
Episode 174 – Theater and Gaming with Andy Jones
Chris is joined by guest GM Andy Jones to talk about the intersection between gaming and theater and how good kids these days have it with being able to talk openly about their hobbies.