RPPR Actual Play

Sponsor: Biohazard Games is running a Kickstarter for Upwind. If you enjoy this AP, back the game! Ross is set to write a campaign for Upwind as a stretch goal. Synopsis: Wherein the player characters are Knights of the Guild’s 5th Fleet, obligated by the Treaties of the Convocation to police the skies of the failing nation of Vault. Recently, the region has come under siege by the Dread Pirate Margit (pronounced Mar•geet) and her heavily armed frigate Hawk. The characters undertake a clever false flag mission posing as desperate merchants in an attempt to lure Margit out into the open and bring her to justice. Unfortunately, in the dangerous skies of Upwind things are not always as they seem and the Knights may learn that even great wrongs can sometimes be right.

After an apocalypse wiped out most of the surface, life continued in an underground bunker. Over the years, the children of the residents became more and more mutated, until some were scarcely recognizable as human. However, for three of the current generation of mutants, life is about to change. For a year, the guardians of the bunker have fought a war against monsters invading the lower levels. Food and water supplies are being shipped up in smaller and smaller increments until the water supply dries up entirely. The residents must delve into the bottom levels to find out what has happened. What they find will shock them to their core.

Enter the graveyard of doomed ships. Experienced seafarers know better than to risk the dangers of the Stranglesea: that terrible place where castaways cling to existence in the rotting hulks of trapped ships, and deadly creatures feast on the unwary. Now a band of adventurers must enter the Stranglesea and attempt to rescue the enigmatic engineer Inigo Sharpe from his imprisonment. But Sharpe is both more and less than they were prepared for — and the forces of an enemy icon want him for their own sinister purposes. The Strangling Sea is a seafaring 13th Age Roleplaying Game adventure by Robin D. Laws for a party of 4-6 1st-level adventurers. The RPPR group took a shot at it. Results will surprise you!

Fallen Flag finds a job working for a faction inside Trabajo, one that will benefit the enclave itself. They must extract sensors from vending machines in a nearby high school. For some reason, the building is intact and the sensors are intact. No one seems to occupy it, a fact that troubles the takers, but they must do the job regardless of what awaits them. Of course, getting there and back poses its own problems, as Fallen Flag discovers. Sometimes what looks like an opportunity is just another threat.

For a long as anyone can remember, the residents of the sleepy community of Hephaestus' Link have lived in the shadow of the Great Necropolis. A hidden city of the dead that rests upon a massive island floating less that 10 miles from island-ring community. No one in the town knows who built it or how it came to rest so near to their remote trading islands.. While most of the residents of Hephaestus' Link feel slightly unnerved with the silent city looming over their community, most consider it a benign structure, being only a source of ghost stories for the elders to scare their grandchildren. However, one of those stories seems to have come true. Tales of strange music and an unearthly howling has been circulating around the town by Cloud Sailors from visiting ships. Fearing the rumors could stop valuable trade ships from docking, the mayor of Hephaestus' Link has called upon adventurers to investigate this hidden city of the dead and discover why it has suddenly come to life again...

A group of British commandos infiltrate occupied France to rescue a defecting scientist in a mountain top command post and research lab. In order to save the scientist, they must take out a team of German soldiers and pose as them. Once inside, the team discovers the Nazis are tapping into unnatural forces to further their war efforts. Can the commandos carry out their mission even though they weren't briefed?

After their score, Fallen Flag looks for work. They soon find a simple job, delivering cooking oil to a nearby enclave called the Coop. Fresh cooking oil is a valuable commodity in the Loss now that almost all of the prepackaged food from before the Crash has been eaten or has spoiled. Crossing a zombie-filled wasteland carrying heavy jugs of cooking oil is no easy task though and there's always a complication with these kind of jobs. Sometimes the client even tries to pull a fast one...

The vigilantes have seen a vision of their own deaths, but perhaps fate is not inevitable. Two men may be able to save them. One, a vicious Russian crime lord and the other is a strange American only known as Richard.Each is surrounded by armed goons of course. Can the vigilantes fight fate or will they find out that living by the mask always results in dying by the mask?

A group of vigilantes, inspired by a masked killer in Miami, fights organized crime in Hong Kong. They wear animal masks and use the lawless Kowloon Walled City as a base of operations. When they learn of a meeting between triads and a corrupt cop at a local tea house, they move in to wipe out the criminal scum. What secret is the cop offering to sell to the gangsters? If the vigilantes manage to find out, will they even want to know?

The thieves have their prize but can they escape with it? The guardian of the museum has trapped them in a small town and has sent her remaining cultists and followers to catch them. Either the thieves must wait until the mystic barrier weakens or they must defeat the dread priestess of Hecate and her followers. Can they survive to cash in or will the cult of Hecate feast on their blood? Find out in the conclusion to this mini-series!

Fallen Flag are a group of takers in Trabajo, an enclave located in a train yard in Greeley Colorado. They know this must be their last year on the job. They have to save up enough bounty to pull off the score of a life time, the engimatic "Two Banners", or die trying. Their first mission is a score. A fracking operation run by the government has been abandoned, leaving precious fuel for the taking. No one knows why the site has been abandoned but Fallen Flag is willing to take the risk to find out. Learn more about the enclave in this thread on the RPPR Forums.

News: Bonus Horrors of War AP podcasts are available as a free download on our Patreon. Synopsis. The horrors of the First World War did not end at the battlefield for many. Crippling injuries affected countless soldiers and civilians on both sides. In one British countryside hospital, a group of wounded soldiers begin the long journey of coming to terms with their wounds when a doctor offers them a chance at a normal life. The experimental surgery can restore missing limbs and burned skin and safely extract embedded shrapnel. It seems like a panacea for all forms of injury, but how can it possibly work? As the patients consider their options, their dreams grow strange. Their war has ended, but another one beckons...

The thieves now face their greatest challenge, stealing a priceless artifact from a well-guarded and remote museum. It has unusually strong security, including an armed response team and high tech alarm systems. Plus the thieves encountered the supernatural earlier, so they reasonably expect more occult interference. Planning and executing a flawless heist is easier said than done, but if anyone can pull it off, it's this team.

Civil War Cthulhu returns - now in the new Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition! Soon fter the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union decides to honor its fallen with a new national cemetery. But the task requires the disinterment, identification, and reburial of over 3,500 decomposing corpses from the battlefield. When rumors begin spreading of some irregularities in the project, President Lincoln summons a special group of investigators to discreetly look into things. But how wisely has he chosen his agents? And check out Ethan's other actual play podcast: ! They've got a Red Markets beta campaign, their own sessions of the Civil War Cthulhu games, Eclipse Phase, and more!

News: Find out what Arc Dream is doing at Gen Con this year. Win prizes from a Green Box! Working Group Masticate is tasked with investigating an unusual spree killing. They find a connection to a strange computer app and begin digging down. What they find sets the final act into motion. The truth is near, but the cost may be too much for the remaining Teeth and their handlers. Reality is only a mask, waiting to be removed. If you enjoyed this scenario, consider getting the Agent's Handbook.

A group of talented criminals are brought together by a mysterious and well-financed patron. The patron wants them to steal certain objects from certain places. The first is an ancient and valuable artifact from the safe of an art gallery. It is guarded by alarms and other conventional security, but the team is not told of its ultimate protection...the undead. Is fighting a blood sucking monster worth a sizeable payday?

News: Please vote for Delta Green in Best Writing, Best Supplement, and Best Free Game at the 2016 Ennies! Don't forget to vote for RPPR as Best Podcast either. Unnatural atmospheric conditions in a small city in Minnesota have gotten the attention of The Group. Nearby agents are activated in order to assess the situation and report back. Even if this is an act of god, the agents must find what god is behind it...

News: Please vote for Role Playing Public Radio in the Ennies for Best Podcast! Delta Green is also nominated for best free game, best supplement and best writing, so vote for them as well. Kowloon has saved enough to retire but that isn't enough. He wants more than a grinding job that barely supports him and his sister. He wants power and security and for that he needs a big score. The Brutalists trust him enough to let him lead them on one last job, but will this be their undoing? A cache of pre-Crash technology sits in a convention center, just waiting to be claimed, but there's a reason why no one has seized it yet. Guarded by government soldiers? Hordes of the undead? Something worse? No matter what stands between them and the score, the Brutalists will face it head on in the last session of this campaign.

With an unsettling combination of eager anticipation and uneasy courage, you and the friends of your youth face the portentous prospect of setting out upon your Rite of Passage. Your parents and extended families embrace you for what may be the last time. You pat your slung leather pouch full of jerked roxen meat and your overfull waterskin, making sure it’s all there, as you cradle the flint dagger carried in a thigh-bound sheath. You seek triumph and technology, winning it with mutations and magic, soaked in the radiation and quantum fields of the mutated, the savage, the semi-sentient, and the artificially intelligent. There are treasures to be won in the taboo lands and ruins, and you shall have them. This funnel adventure was released as a free preview adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics, which is being Kickstarted right now. If you dig crazy sci-fi dungeon crawling, check it out!

A long time ago, humans walked the face of the world, but were destroyed for their arrogance and hubris. The Bright Ones lifted up the simple animals of forest and field, giving them the ability to think, build, and stand on their own two feet. In order to keep the newly Favored animals from making the same mistakes the humans did, The Bright Ones gave them the Compact — a book telling them how to live together in harmony. Those who engage in dark deeds or refuse the ways of Harmony eventually become Dire — sinister, twisted versions of themselves, acting out of greed, vengeance, or selfishness. You must protect the town of Cairn and help it survive the winter. But beware! For you can become Dire, too. Last summer, Sean ran a one shot of Cairn. I enjoyed the game and thought you might appreciate learning about the system. Enjoy!

Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Arc Dream. Pick up the Agent's Handbook for Delta Green today. Lover in the Ice is also now available as a Delta Green adventure. Synopsis: Working Group M survived the raid on the compound, but only barely. A new team member has been brought into the fold, to monitor and assist the remaining Teeth of Bast. No sooner than that has happened then the team is activated once more. Their supervisor sends the group into a mysterious mission with few directives. Paranoia soon sets in, as the group tries to figure out why they are on this mission.

News: The Red Markets Kickstarter is in its last day! The core rules are now in color and hardcover! This is your last chance to back it and receive tons of PDF material, a full AP campaign, and a lot more! Synopsis: The Brutalists are now embroiled in the political intrigue of Distributee. Between running gladiatorial fights and figuring out how to assassinate a politician, they have their hands full. Even if they can kill their target, getting out is another question. The enclave is heavily populated and guards and vigilant citizens are everywhere.

News: The Red Markets Kickstarter is live! The core rules are now in color and hardcover! Help us reach two more PDF supplement stretch goals! We have less than a week to go, so back now before it's too late. Synopsis: The Brutalists survived a job on the road, only to take another. Distributee, a neighboring enclave based in an online retailer's warehouse, has political trouble. It plays a vital role in the region's economy, so any instability there will have dire repercussions. The Brutalists have been hired to effect political change in a manner suited to their client. How they do this is up to them, although the more direct methods have some...dangerous consequences.

News: The Red Markets Kickstarter is live! We have just reached a full color hardcover offset print run for the book. The Loss has never looked so good! Synopsis: Attempting multiple jobs at the same time has pushed the Brutalists to their very limits. As their supplies grow low and the challenges pile one, they must face hard decisions. At what point do they walk away, knowing inaction could cost innocent lives or profit? Trying to keep a conscience and a net profit may be mutually exclusive...

News: The Red Markets Kickstarter is live! Help us reach the offset print run stretch goal, so we can get a full color print run of the book. Synopsis: After barely surviving their last job, the Brutalists decide to take two jobs at once in order to earn their retirement goals even faster. This job will push the crew to their limits, but they need to cash out before their enemies catch them. One job involves working with a group of strange artists while the other one involves working with the DHQS again. The government's black ops program may be as evil as they come, but the Brutalists need the work.

News: The Red Markets Kickstarter is live! If you enjoy these Actual Play podcasts, consider backing the Kickstarter to help make the game real. We even have bonus actual plays for backers! Synopsis: The Brutalists find out the downsides of subcontracting the hard way! Their latest job takes them face to face with a horror they've never encountered before. Killing an impossible monster is not their only concern either. The DHQS has an agent placed in an nearby enclave. The leadership of that enclave has designs on Kowloon, regardless of what he wants. Find out how the takers fight back in this nail-biting episode!

News: The Red Markets Kickstarter is live! If you enjoy these Actual Play podcasts, consider backing the Kickstarter to help make the game real. We even have bonus actual plays for backers! Synopsis: The Brutalists get a new job to clear out a building of undead. Another group has already failed at the job though and the Brutalists are now subcontractors for it. No one knows why the first group failed, all the more reason for the Brutalists to dread it. However, they first have to get to the job site before they can even try. The takers have made enemies, who want revenge. There's also another cult between them and their destination, a group of medically trained fanatics known as the Crusaders.

You are an Explorer Knight. You are exceptional. Unique in all the Highlands. You’ve survived the Academy, honed your Potential and now wield extraordinary elemental powers. You have stalwart crewmates, great warships, magical Relics and ancient technology all at your command. Even so, can you survive your first voyage into the Twilight Frontier? The EGS Inquisitive is long overdue and you have been tasked with tracking her into the Twilight Frontier and either leading her home or determining her fate. As every Knight knows, such search and rescue missions most often end with no sign of the missing ships. Or worse still, with the would be rescuers sharing the same fate as the lost… Upwind is a new RPG in development from Jeff Barber (creator of Blue Planet). You can listen to our character creation segment here. If you enjoyed this game, please consider helping the game's development by playtesting it now! Read more information in this thread on the RPPR forums.

Delta Green has pulled together a massive strike team in order to take down the mythos organization in Colorado, all led by Working Group M, but will it be enough? Only the working group knows the true nature of their foe and it may be immoral to send unknowing police officers into battle without giving them proper intelligence. But an unnatural hunger gnaws at the working group, so they must feed and soon. If you enjoy this game, please consider getting the Agent's Handbook for Delta Green, available now on PDF!

The workers of the abattoir need medication to continue their work and it is up to the Brutalists to transport the drugs. Unfortunately, the shipment also contains dangerous narcotics that could wreck havoc with the community. The takers may be mercenaries but the fallout of addicting an allied enclave with these drugs and getting them into debt with a drug cartel is quite dangerous. Those narcotics are worth a lot of bounty though, so someone must pay for them.

The village of Portnelle is once again bright and festive. After years of feuding, the town’s most prominent and influential families will finally be making peace as the youngest generations are joined in marriage. However, when an evil born of dark secrets refuses to stay buried, blood will flow like wine at the reception. This wedding is one your fellow villagers will talk about for generations! Buy the adventure on DrivethruRPG if you want to run it for your group.

News: The Agent's Handbook for Delta Green is now available on PDF! Buy it now on DrivethruRPG. Synopsis: Working Group M is sent back into action after the bloody events of the previous mission. The legalization of marijuana in Colorado has led to a booming pot industry and a problem for the Group. One new corporation has been flagged for investigation. Their product is unusual and their CEO has tenuous connections to a previous operation, conducted decades ago. When Sredni Vashtar is hungry, no one is safe...

The Brutalists have been hired to transport a prisoner for a trial, a trail that will almost certainly end in her execution. To ease their consciences, they have agreed to investigate her case and save her. In order to do that, they must cross the line into the Recession. It is heavily guarded and evidence of her innocence is not guaranteed to still exist. Even worse, what profit is there in this mission?

And now, the second half of Saurian Solutions LLC! Our heroes plan their attack on Mr Tyrranous, getting allies from rebels within the saurian ranks. They also get help from the outside, as a grizzled old SAS soldier, who also happens to be a werewolf, joins the fight. They also seek help from a local militia that has been trapped in the jungle. But will these armed, and somewhat crazy gunmen be more trouble than they are worth?

Extinction is not always forever. A group of Base Raiders are on their way across the country when they happen upon a strange situation in Arizona. A small town has been cut off from the rest of the world, and its population have been transformed into dinosaurs by a new villain, Mr Tyrrannous. Now, The Violet Vision, an alien robot, and a magical talking cat must stop this new villain, before the rest of the world is forced to go dino.

Justice exists in the Loss, albeit in a crude and unfair manner. The Brutalists are hired to help enforce the law by escorting a prisoner through the Loss to a tribunal for a 'trial', sentencing, and punishment. Of course, justice is more about politics and keeping the peace out here. If the innocent have to die in order to appease the masses, so be it. They take on a new team member and take a side trek in order to make even more profit. Of course, no endeavor is without its risks. The side trek may cost more than just profit if their gamble does not pay off.

As you know, we only play serious, grim, and dark role playing games, so we have continued this legacy with a daring indie storytelling game of a moose and squirrel hunted by a rogue government assassin and a femme fatale. Find out the truth behind the secret of the 'jet fuel' that some are willing to kill to get.

News: Why were we gone for so long? Read this for more info. We are now on a new web host, so hopefully, everything will be smooth sailing from here on out. Amidst the chaotic guerrilla warfare of Civil War Missouri, a small force of Union militia troops is tasked with carrying out General Order No. 11, the expulsion of all civilians from four counties on the Kansas-Missouri border. But each soldier has his own motivations, not all of them noble. When they encounter some unusual opposition, their commitment to their mission, their unit, and even their sanity will be tested. This is an early playtest version of this scenario, and also Ethan's first time running Trail of Cthulhu.

News: Delta Green: Need To Know, a FREE PDF quick start rulebook is now available to everyone. Download it here. Decades after an operation in the Catskills Mountains ended, Delta Green has detected a possible threat in the same region. A biotech company has built a research lab at the site where the old mission ended and now the company is acting in a suspicious manner. A working group of Delta Green agents are sent in to investigate the company and follow up on the old case. The sins of the old conspiracy live to torment the next generation of agents...

Because the enclave of Le Corbusier is close to the Recession, every once in a while tourists from the zombie-free part of the country visit to go on a 'safari.' Specifically, they hire takers to guide them out into the Loss so they can shoot as many zombies as they want. The Brutalists are taking a father and son out for just such a safari. The father also hired out a latent bodyguard, who seems to have his own agenda. This is no simple run and gun job though. Nothing is that simple in the Loss.

A group of Firewall agents awaken in a remote underground bunker built on a distant exoplanet. Firewall has built a sanctuary to restart humanity if the TITANs destroy everything else. It is hidden to the best of Firewall's capabilities and designed with their most extreme safeguards. The team is one such safeguard. They are an erasure squad tasked with reclaiming the facility from rogue Firewall agents. Instead of following the standard wake up protocols, the first wave of agents have turned on each other. The team must stop them before they destroy the facility. They have no communication or news from the outside universe. Has humanity fallen? Was this a test or an error gone awry? Did an enemy of Firewall sabotage the base? As the team prepares for battle, the questions rattle in their heads... (Please note that the first 20 or so minutes of the AP are missing due to a technical error on my part. I re-summarized the game, so you won't miss any important details. Sorry!)

Most find death in the crumbling ruins that stretch beyond sight into the mists south of the Great City; once rich districts now claimed by swamp and dark denizens. But for the desperate folk of the city, the ruins offer treasures the Great City denies them: fortune, glory, and a fighting chance! The massive crumbling ruins of the swamp-ravaged Sunken City await! The way is filled with peril, but those who survive will be ready to face even more dangerous fare! Thanks to Purple Sorcerer Games for sending us a PDF of this adventure for us to run. If you like this adventure, consider getting it.

Another day, another job. The Brutalists get some help for their latest job, a mysterious driver named Drift. They will need his skills and car if they are going to have a chance to complete this job. The takers must travel to an overrun enclave, release the undead horde inside and herd them to a slaughterhouse, where they can be disposed of and their clothing processed into grime-cloth, the only fabric available for the poor now. There's a long road ahead and countless hazards to navigate or demolish. There's only one solution and that is apparently quoting Fury Road. Will it work? Find out!

Elder Godlike is a new crossover RPG that combines Achtung! Cthulhu with Godlike - in other words, superpowered Allied soldiers fighting Nazi super soldiers AND Nazi sorcerers! I playtested the game in 2014 and the game has finally come out. Beyond the Limits of the North pits an Allied commando crew against the Black Sun cult, an insidious Nazi organization devoted to exploiting the Cthulhu mythos as a weapon of war. They have taken over a small fishing village in Norway and the Allies are worried about what they could be doing up there. So worried they send a crew of superpowered commandos to stop them, at any cost. As the landing force draws near to the coastline, the huddled soldiers wonder what horrors they will find in the village. If you liked this game, consider picking up a copy of Elder Godlike.

We return to the sleepy village of Taos, New Mexico. Last time, a team of investigators stopped an invasion of the Dreamlands but this time they face a strange serial killer stalking the night. Finding and stopping the killer will require more than brute strength and magical firepower. The team has to find who or what the killer is before they can stop it. Can the team survive the night?

The Brutalists are in the middle of their first job and it may be their last! What at first seemed like a simple closure job has turned into a nerve-wracking standoff between them, another group of survivors, and the government itself. Can the team negotiate peace between embittered military vets with sniper training and a ruthless black ops government wetworks operation? Will the precious technology discovered at the job site be recovered or destroyed, lost to humanity for all time? What architect will Ludwig quote next? There's only one way to find out!

A woman, blood seeping through her suit, staggers to the door of Red-Talk Phones. A gun is in her hand. She is strong enough to yell out not to bother calling the police. She just needs a clean phone, a burner. It is coming and it would be better if it did not have more victims to attack. The employees of the strip mall huddle behind the counter of Red-Talk Phones. Burner is a Delta Green scenario in which the PCs are civilians thrown into an Opera without warning. I used Fear Itself (a Gumshoe system) to playtest the engine because I thought it suited the scenario more and I wanted to introduce one of the players, Shaun, to Gumshoe. Burner won second place in the 2015 Delta Green Shotgun Scenario contest. You can read all of the entries here, including the winner Die Nachtbruder.

A group of gatecrashers are sent on a scouting mission to an exoplanet relatively near to our own solar system. The planet has favorable atmospheric conditions and life, but something is off about it. There seems to be a human settlement on the planet, one unknown to transhumanity. They have medieval technology but are otherwise healthy. Furthermore, there are strange four-legged beasts roaming the nearby wilderness. What secrets does this world hold? Is it a TITAN trap? No trace of their technology or the Exsurgent virus has been found, but who knows what secrets lie hidden, just waiting for the gatecrashers to find?

Nyarlathotep... the crawling chaos... I am the last... I will tell the audient void...I do not recall distinctly when it began, but it was months ago. The general tension was horrible. To a season of political and social upheaval was added a strange and brooding apprehension of hideous physical danger; a danger widespread and all-embracing, such a danger as may be imagined only in the most terrible phantasms of the night... A band of desperate and hardened investigators step forward to battle the forces of the Crawling Chaos one last time. Only a handful even remember the origins of their mission, but now all realize the stakes. Their destiny awaits at Gray Dragon Island. In blood and madness, they will pay just for a chance for the world to see the dawn one more time. Find out who lives and who dies in the last session of the RPPR run of Masks of Nyarlathotep. Thanks for listening.

The Red Markets beta campaign has begun! This session covers enclave generation and the first job. In case you weren't aware, Red Markets is a work-in-progress RPG created by Caleb. We discuss its creation in detail on the Game Designer Workshop series on RPPR. Set in the near future after a massive zombie infection has wiped out millions, the USA is divided into two regions: The Recession (mostly east of the Mississippi) and the Loss (the rest of the country). The undead have been cleared in the Recession, so the grueling work of rebuilding civilization has begun there. The Loss is still overrun with 'casualties', the new term for zombie. Still, communities of refugees band together in settlements called enclaves. Life in the enclaves depends on groups of desperate but armed survivors called Takers who risk life and limb to perform dangerous freelance jobs for pay. If you need something done in the Loss and you have the money, you hire a group of Takers to do it. This campaign concerns a group of Takers called the Brutalists in the ruins of Chicago. In their first job, they must travel to a small dam far from the safety of their enclave. What secrets are hidden within the structure? Eager for work, the Takers agree to the job and head out, uncertain of what they will find...