RPPR Actual Play

A group of commuters in a New York subway find themselves stranded after crazed robots start attacking the subway station. Fleeing into the tunnels, the commuters stumble across the base of a masked crime boss. What secrets lurk within it? What are the robots after? This scenario was run using new playtest rules for running origin story adventures, when unlikely heroes answer the call to action and gain superpowers to fight evil (or villains gain superpowers for fun and profit, whatever floats your boat.) Playtest rules are available on the Base Raiders website. Buy Base Raiders for PDF or print. Email proof of purchase of a print copy to get the PDF.

The epilogue adventures begin! The war is over and the Grey Sky Horde has retreated to their capital city but that won't stop Vo from rescuing her husband and getting revenge. Xin's Crows must infiltrate the city, find Locke, get revenge, and get out, without being detected by the garrison of warriors stationed in the city. Brute force cannot win the day. Of course, Vo is far more cunning than the average Grey Sky Horde guard, but will that be enough when she crosses paths with their officers and leaders?

Thanks to Crazon for the art! The Ronin must rescue their comrade from Toru's grasp, but fortunately they have a plan. It requires perfect timing, incredible luck, and the proper application of explosives. Of course, Toru has plans of his own. Who will come out on top in this action packed episode? There's only one way to find out!

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War was a complex and murky affair, but it did result in many American troops being stationed in Vladivostok in 1919. One company of soldiers was given a mission to bring supplies and munitions to allies near the front, which can only be delivered by an armed and armored train. Little do the soldiers know they will encounter more than cagey 'allied' soldiers, corrupt officials, and bandits. Something dark and monstrous lurks in the wilds, something powerful enough to prey even on a train filled with soldiers. This game was recorded at Gencon 2013 and was run by Pagan Publishing's Adam Scott Glancy. Enjoy!

The final battle of the war is only the beginning of trouble for Xin's Crows! The Grey Sky Horde will finally meet the Imperial army on the field of battle, but Xin's Crows have their own problems. The conspiracy against the Imperial Court must be stopped, not out of love for the Great Empire, but so the Crows can fulfill their own goals. Vo comes up with an ingenious plan to stop the conspiracy, but will it work? Find out how the "Double Hamlet" plan works in this last adventure before the epilogue for the campaign begins!

Toru the vampire seems to be the key to unraveling the conspiracy, so the Ronin investigate his background to gain an edge. This leads them through the seedy underworld of host clubs, cosplayers, and occultists. Of course that isn't the only challenge for the Ronin. The vampires offer them a chance to negotiate for peace. In a rare encounter without violence, the Ronin talk to an older man, apparently the leader of the conspiracy. He offers them an intriguing opportunity to learn the motives of the conspiracy. Can they possibly accept the deal? Thanks to Crazon for the art!

The unlikely pair of investigators are still unraveling a rapidly deepening mystery, but how far does it go? Between murders, lost masterpieces of art, and deformed killers, there seems to be no end. Even if the two find answers, who will believe them and more importantly what can they do about it? The solution may be worse than the problem. Find out what happens in the finale of this scenario!

Xin's Crows have landed on the pirate stronghold island, but taking down the pirates won't be easy. In this double-length episode, the Crows launch a desperate plan to topple the pirates by starting a slave rebellion. The adventurers must split up to achieve their other goal of retrieving certain scrolls from the pirate queen's mansion. It's a gamble, but they must take the risk. Find out how they fare!

The Ronin need to learn more of the mysterious drug peddled by the vampires, but they find a potential lead. A mid-level Yakuza dealer nicknamed American Joe sells a variant drug based on the same flower. The Ronin decide that kidnapping and interrogating him would shine some insight into the situation. However, American Joe is paranoid and well-protected. Getting him out of a hole in the wall bar while he is surrounded by armed bodyguards will not be easy. Fortunately, the Ronin are nothing if not problem solvers. Thanks to Crazon for the art!

The Wives of March is a horror mystery set in Barefoot Crossing, a sharecropping community on the rural outskirts of Savannah, Georgia. Two investigators from opposite sides of society are charged with examining the murder of a Methodist preacher and accidentally reveal an ancient, inhuman conspiracy in the process. Can they overcome a supernatural evil masquerading as the banal atrocities so commonly perpetrated by mankind? This scenario is a playtest of the upcoming PDF release from Hebanon Games.

Xin's Crows have reached a bastion of civilization after their long journey through the wilderness. The port city offers many opportunities and many dangers. Vo needs a line of credit to pursue her destiny, which requires gaining the trust of the bankers. This means dealing with a group of pirates and their island lair. The risks are great but so is the potential profit. But before they leave, each Crow has their own issues to deal with - from personal intrigue to religious conflict. A new chapter begins for the Crows!

After the success of Operation Black Dolphin, it was only a matter of time before the vampires struck back. The family of one of the Ronin is threatened, which reveals a leak in the police department. Who can the Ronin trust now? How can they possibly survive the next confrontation? Why does a Red Ranger costume come into play? Find out in this thrilling episode of Tribes of Tokyo! Thanks to Crazon for the artwork!

Thanks to Bill, we here at RPPR managed to play an entire game of Fiasco, using the rules, more or less. We chose the News Channel Six playset, which led to a dark Anchorman-esque game, as written by Warren Ellis. Drugs, lies, schemes, and man-rooster fights are all part of the news game, especially when Ramble Turducken is the head anchor of the local news. Find out how dark the news can be in this very special one shot!

Xin's Crows must protect the Imperial Army from a dangerous ambush, if they want to get out of the swamp alive and with their fortunes intact. Unfortunately, the Grey Sky Horde has a few tricks up their sleeves and by tricks, I mean advanced war machines. The Crows must sneak into the enemy camp and find a way to disable as many war machines as possible before the ambush starts.

The Ronin decide to strike back at the vampire conspiracy with Operation Black Dolphin, a cunning but risky plan. They must gather many disparate components in order for the plan to work, and a single misstep can ruin it. Part of the plan involves the creation of a fake terrorist group known as the Empty Five. It also involves corpses, Geiger counters and copious amounts of explosives. Will it be enough to change the dynamics of the conspiracy and give the Ronin a chance to catch up or is it too late? Find out in this very special episode of Tribes of Tokyo! Check out this 'shopping list' of items used in Operation Black Dolphin Thanks to Crazon for the art!

The Derek Bishop Chronicles continue! After surviving the events of Anderson Island, Derek and his motley crew of researchers track down rumors of a vampire in the college town of Manhattan, Kansas. Of course, things are not as they seem. Strange wind storms and disturbances plague the small city as Bishop and company pursue their investigation. Even though they have survived the supernatural before, can they survive an evil as strong as the wind itself? (Special note: This is actually the second adventure of Derek Bishop. The Festival was posted out of order.)

In this episode, Xin's Crows have uncovered a new lead to the conspiracy that threatens their host army. In order to pursue it, they must navigate the treacherous swamp and its even more dangerous residents. Plus, the quartermaster adds further complications. Can he be dealt with? The agents of the Grey Sky Horde plan to ambush the army at the river crossing. Can the Crows stop the ambush before it is too late?

The Ronin have decided to track down the source of the mysterious drug, Reverb, which takes them to the sewers of Shibuya. Their mission raises more questions than it answers, but that will have to wait. Their boss has arranged a meeting with the engimatic client, but the Ronin must provide security. Of course, the opposition decides to interfere. Can the Ronin turn the tables on their enemies for once? Find out in this episode! Thanks to Crazon for the art!

Slasher Flick is an indie RPG that models slasher horror films. When former RPPR regular Thad showed up for a visit, I decided to revisit the Derek Bishop Chronicles using Slasher Flick. At South Padre Island, a group of skeptics and college students on Spring Break will soon be thrown into a hellish nightmare when a skeptic inadvertently summons a terrifying monster! As the killer eliminates his victims, one by one, can a group of students, drug dealers, hotel employees, and bros find a way to slay the monster? Has Derek Bishop written his last chronicle? Find out in this special one shot!

Xin's Crows have uncovered a plot against the Great Empire! They could tell the officers of the army, but some of them are traitors. The ragtag merchants and warriors must investigate the plot before they can act. As the army moves into a swampy region, notorious for bandits, they decide to visit a local bandit enclave. They must not only negotiate for protection against thieves, but they must uncover more information on the plot. What secrets lie in wait for them in the swamp and more importantly, how much profit will they make?

The consultants begin their investigation by diving into the seedy underworld of Tokyo night clubs and drug dealers. The mysterious Jungo left behind a trail through the night clubs and the consultants must follow in the dead vampire's steps to find out who he worked for and what they are planning. The Red Emperors, a low level motorcycle gang, distribute a strange new drug called Reverb throughout Tokyo, using dealers at nightclubs to sell them. What is Reverb and why are vampires distributing it? The mystery only deepens in this episode of Tribes of Tokyo! Thanks to Crazon for the art!

The Day After Ragnarok is a new setting for Savage Worlds featuring pulp action, Nazis (who must be punched), super science, and magic! Naturally, we here at RPPR had to give it a test drive. A group of down on their luck mercenaries in Rio de Janeiro are hired to track down a missing man in the depths of the wild jungles of Brazil. Little do they realize what lies in wait for them when they find the target of their search. Can a group of unlikely heroes like a bush pilot, an Wermarcht veteran, and El Matador stop the evil behind the disappearance and perhaps punch a few Nazis?

Xin's Crows take the fight to the abandoned monastery! In order to secure their caravan, they must stop the bandits from attacking once and for all. To their good fortune, the masked assassin who has hounded their every move has shown himself. The heroes must fight their way through to the assassin and then overtake him in a chase across the desert. What secrets does the assassin have and what will Xin's Crows do after that? Find out in this thrilling episode!

Thanks to Crazon for the art! Tribes of Tokyo is the newest RPPR campaign, which uses Night's Black Agents for the system. A game of thrilling espionage action and dark vampiric horror in the bustling metropolis of modern day Tokyo, starts as a normal investigative scenario. A group of security consultants in Tokyo are hired for a typical job, digging up dirt on a mysterious individual by an anonymous client. Unfortunately, the target is not what he seems to be and the consultants find themselves fighting against a conspiracy of inhuman monsters able to climb sheer walls and shrug off gunfire. Who are they and what do they want? More importantly, what will they do to the consultants if they catch them? This group of misfits and washouts from various intelligence and criminal organizations have to find and stop their new adversaries before it's too late.

In this one shot, a group of ronin samurai wander the chaotic and violent countryside of Japan in the turbulent Sengoku era. When they chance upon a village, they stumble upon a hidden darkness far worse than they could imagine. After agreeing to help the villagers, the ronin encounter things beyond their comprehension. Only their blades and strength stand between the innocent and an unknowable evil. Can their skills prevail against their inhuman foes? Find out in this special prequel to the next RPPR campaign, Tribes of Tokyo!

Xin's Crows are now deep in the desert and must deal with the bandits, one way or the other if they hope to make it across with their wares (and hides) intact. But to stop the elusive desert bandits, they must first find their hidden fortress. While the main caravan laboriously crosses the desert, a small group can easily make a detour in order to question local nomads and traders at a nearby oasis. Even after they get a lead, getting to the hideout will be quite hard and who knows what's lying in wait for them there?

The last episode of the Heroes of New Arcadia is finally upon us! After defeating the Status Quo and the stopping the coup, there is only one obstacle between the Heroes and a transhuman utopia: the Ideal itself. Some members, like Avalon, are not on board with a radically new society that grants equal rights to non-humans and empowers all of its citizens. The Heroes find themselves facing a foe they never knew of before and the stakes could not be higher! What will happen to the Heroes in their final adventure? There's only one way to find out! Thanks for listening and the next episode of RPPR will feature a post mortem of the campaign.

News: Don't forget about RPPR B-Sides! Listen to other unreleased Call of Cthulhu AP episodes and other unique offerings from our archives. Synopsis: In this one shot, a group of filmmakers has been gathered to create a very special film, but as they soon realize, the writer and director is a madman, armed with terrible powers. So what do they do? Make the movie, of course! It's a surefire way to get into all the film festivals! What could possibly go wrong?

News: If you're an Actual Play fan, check out RPPR B-Sides to learn how you can get access to 20 unreleased AP episodes that will NEVER be posted on this podcast! Volume 1 contains 20 episodes including never-heard Call of Cthulhu games and more! Synopsis: Xin's Crows follow the Imperial Army as they march to war and leave civilization behind. The desert is harsh terrain and the road ahead is littered with the bones of travelers who were too weak to survive. Aside from natural dangers like the heat, the camp followers must fend for themselves against bandits and predatory animals. In fact, Xin's Crows have to fight off a bandit raid themselves to protect their wares. Even after they deal with the raid, the Crows must establish their place in the thriving economy of the marching army by tricking business rivals and securing their own supply lines. Life is cheap out in the barren wastes of the Deserts, but to the Crows, everything else will cost you.

In the penultimate episode of the Heroes of the New Arcadia campaign, the new Ideal must stop a coup! The Status Quo will not tolerate opposition so they will try their last and most desperate gambit to retain their own power. After all the Heroes have done to save the world, will this scheme succeed where others have failed? How will the Old Ideal react? There's only one way to find out the answers to these questions!

A promising new writer and a few associates head to the depths of the Amazon Jungle, to see the front lines of the war between civilization and nature. A road is being carved through the savage wilderness and rumors of the decadence of the workers have reached all the way to America. So, a team of intrepid investigators journeys to the heart of the Amazon to see what happens when man tears down nature for his own purposes. Little does anyone suspect of the true horrors lying in the dark heart of the Amazon, least of all the Americans.

Xin's Crows set off to find their fortune, following the Imperial Army as they march to confront the Grey Sky Horde. First they must pass through the underground kingdom, a massive network of tunnels carved through a mountain. As the Crows make their way through the twisty tunnels, they find the Great Empire can be as dangerous in the 'civilized' parts as it is in the frontier. Can the Crows avoid the thieves, slavers, and other threats in the darkness of the underground? Find out in the second episode of the Fortunes of War!

In this special episode, Jason takes the reins of the campaign (because Ross was in China at the time) and runs a game inspired by Days of Future Past! The Heroes of New Arcadia are thrown into the future, possibly an alternate one or possibly the predestined future and things aren't going so well. In this brutal grimdark dystopia, the Heroes have become villains or have died. Find out what caused the damage and how the heroes of the past can save the future!

In this special one shot adventure, RJ returns as we try out Spirit of the Century, a pulp themed FATE engine RPG! The players are typical pulp heroes at a swanky New York City party, when dastardly murderhobos attack the shindig! It turns out that the secret homeless fighting societies of the city are fighting over a fabled grimoire of dirty fighting called Ars Pugilism and they seem to think the PCs have it. The heroes will have to get to the bottom of this mystery before the murderhobos tear the city apart!

The Great Empire is in turmoil. The western provinces rebel and foreign kingdoms make trouble along the borders. General Xin, a renowned tactician, was charged with suppressing a rebellion in Jing Province, the farthest and wildest province of the twelve. Xin was forced to recruit mercenaries, who were common in Jing province, as it was the center of trade between the Empire and many other foreign kingdoms. A horde of the Warriors of the Grey Sky used the rebellion to launch their own invasion of the Great Empire and routed both Xin's army and the rebellion. The last rebel officer alive, a man named Sheng, did not want to see the Great Empire fall to the horde so he told a few remaining mercenaries of a secret exit out of the valley, on the condition that they warn the Great Empire. Sheng made each mercenary swear a blood oath to each other to keep each other alive in order to make sure the normally selfish mercenaries would work as a team. In order to keep the horde from killing them, the mercenaries posed as merchants. A few weeks later, they arrived at the capital and dutifully told the army of the horde. The nobles and bureaucrats of the Great Empire do not like hearing bad news, especially from mercenaries. Furthermore, the court soothsayers declared Xin and all who served under him as cursed. No army would take the mercenaries now, even General Tzu’s new army, which is tasked with defeating the Grey Sky Horde. This tale concerns the fate of Xin’s Crows – the cursed remnants of his army. Their only chance of fulfilling their destinies is to become traveling merchants, selling to Tzu’s army. So begins the saga of a group of foreign warriors who would change the fate of the Great Empire forever. Read more about the campaign on the RPPR forums.

The Heroes of New Arcadia find out that the secret weapon of the Collective is a massive construct made of thousands of grimoires - books of magic. The construct, The Lady of Darkness, is capable of altering reality on a massive scale and could threaten the entire world if she isn't stopped. As powerful as the heroes are, can they stop a being of unprecedented magical power? Even if they deal with the Collective, a civil war is brewing between the human-run governments and the superhuman ones. The Heroes of New Arcadia are the only ones who can stop the war before it begins. Find out what happens as the cosmic tier draws closer to its conclusion!

In the grimdark future where war, war never changes, some people built a Vault in the Ozarks. Other people survived the nuclear war by hiding in the vault. Today, the door to the vault opens. What will the citizens of Vault 26 do in the post-apocalyptic Ozarks? Can they become a powerful faction like Beartown or Neo-Branson or will they fall prey to the raiders or giant ants that plague the region? This is a 2 session game. We never played another session, but that's no reason to deprive you of it. We used GURPS 4th edition, some online Fallout GURPS material, and the GURPS mass combat rules.

The journey has come to an end. There is only one mission left: to defeat Manjappa. Warden, the Promethean AI, has sent the Firewall team to Mars to track down and confront Manjappa, the author of Know Evil. Manjappa isn't willing to go down without a fight though. Can they survive the final battle and even so, what will happen to them after the mission is completed? Everyone must face up to the decisions they've made over the course of their investigation. Find out what happens to Bartleby, Preston, SAIROC, Gerard, Quoth, and Fei Yin! We here at RPPR would like to thank the listeners for their enthusiasm, comments, and emails about Know Evil. It was a great campaign that we all enjoyed playing and we hope you enjoyed as well! The Know Evil Fan Creation Contest officially ends on May 10. More Eclipse Phase is coming, but we have some great new campaigns in the works now: Our next campaign is an Iron Heroes campaign called the Fortunes of War. It follows the saga of a group of soldiers turned merchants as they try to fulfill their destinies during a war along the Silk Road . After that, we have a Night's Black Agents campaign called the Tribes of Tokyo - a group of security experts uncovers a horrific vampire conspiracy in the seedy underbelly of the city. Stay tuned! Download a high resolution image of the Know Evil Poster.

In this episode of the cosmic tier, the heroes tackle the Collective! The organization is now a twisted cult of the Remnant, the elder cosmic being which nearly unmade the universe. The Collective seeks to continue the job left unfinished by their patron god and will stop at nothing to accomplish it. Only the Heroes of New Arcadia can stop them, but that's easier said than done. They possess incredibly technological and magical resources and intend to use them. Find out what secrets they still have left to spring!

After saving the world from an evil cult during a summer road trip, a group of friends and their monster pals find themselves trapped in a strange world, where an omniscient narrator distantly rumbles life lessons about crossing the street and not washing clothes with gasoline, and that's not even mentioning the flying monkey. Can they figure out what's going and who's behind it? Will the subcommittee reconvene before Mr. Speaker suspends the parliamentary session? Find out in this special one shot of Monsters and Other Childish Things!

In the penultimate episode of the Know Evil campaign, the Firewall team heads to earth to find out the truth behind Manjappa's plan. Running the blockade of kill satellites surrounding the planet is dangerous enough, but how long can they last on the surface? Will they do what it takes to discover the truth and stop Manjappa or will they falter in their quest? Everything is coming to an end, but before the team can confront the author of the Know Evil virus, they must first make a decision that will alter history forever!

The Heroes of New Arcadia campaign will be interrupted by a special one shot of Dread, the horror game that makes Jenga terrifying. Seriously. We're playing Dread in this episode. The players are on a space station trying to protect all of humanity from a cosmic threat. They're all humans. No man-bats or magicians or anything like that. Nope. Just a straight sci-fi horror story about people like Norm (the prisoner), Jamal (the leader) and Finn (the worker). They all know something is WRONG on the station. Can these normal humans solve the mystery and save the day or will they let the world be destroyed? Find out in this special game of Dread!

Not all skills in Call of Cthulhu are created equally, but this scenario totally justifies the existence of the red-headed stepchild of skills, Operate Heavy Machinery. Marvel at how a group of intrepid blue collar workers fight off the horrors of the mythos through the clever and frequent use of heavy machinery. Also, as a special bonus for the few of you who actually read the comments, listen to this previously unreleased AP of Fiasco with RJ And Cody!

The Firewall Team awakens on Earth, much to their chagrin. They have been placed in a covert bunker under the streets of Tokyo, sleeved in what morphs were available. Tasked with retrieving an AGI from a Tokyo museum, the team must cross the exsurgent infected ruins of earth's largest city. Given the insidious and alien nature of the TITANs, anything can be a deadly trap. Can the team survive the countless threats and complete the mission objective? Why is the AGI so important? Find out all this and more in this episode of Know Evil!

Delta Green was not always an illegal conspiracy within the US government. Back in 1969, it was still a legal conspiracy (at least for most of the year). A group of agents must investigate the theft of 10 pounds of moon rocks from a secure government facility. Can this disparate group of soldiers and investigators figure out who stole the rocks and why? More importantly, can they stop the thieves from completing their plan? Find out in Drew's first game as GM!

The final tier of the Heroes of New Arcadia campaign begins! After the dramatic events of the last tier, the world is a very different place. The Heroes are vastly different - gaining new powers at the cost of their humanity. The secrets behind Ragnarok have been revealed. The Ideal has finally returned. The Collective has shown itself to be a true enemy of all that lives. The Heroes of New Arcadia are now world class heroes and the stakes have never been higher. Can the Heroes do what it takes to guide the world into a more elevated position or will everything fall apart? Find out as the final act begins!

The peace cannot last long, even in a civilized station like Vo Nyugen. The Firewall team finds itself under attack from a mysterious and impossibly skilled assassin just as they are making a deal with an informant for intel on Manjappa. Meanwhile, Augustine sits there in the server room...apparently normal, but can the Firewall team trust a seed AI? Even after they deal with the sniper, the team has little time to act in order to keep the investigation going. Given the number of Firewall rules the team has broken, how long can they keep their own organization from turning against them? Find out how the team manages to deal with the chaos Manjappa inflicts on them in this episode of Know Evil!

The murder of a certain rich man at his Long Island estate prompts an investigation which draws in an unlikely cast of characters. The sheriff, a gangster, and a fisherman find themselves caught up in a web of lies and scandal. Who's the killer? Why did the sheriff deputize the fisherman? Some mysteries are too deep to be uncovered but perhaps this homicide during the Roaring Twenties can be solved. Find out who was behind the killing in this special one shot of A Dirty World!

Caleb steps up as gamemaster in his second 'annual' Heroes of New Arcadia game. The heroes may have saved earth but the world of Sanctuary still needs their help. Fortunately they've found a way to potentially avert the disaster but they must travel to a remote and bizarre section of Sanctuary, one where magic rules, instead of science. The heroes must journey across an exotic yet strangely familiar realm of fantastic beings. Can they adapt to the laws that guide this realm and save Sanctuary or will they fail in their quest? Find out in this double length episode!

The Firewall team survived Hotel California, but only by the skin of their cloned teeth. They need time to recover and pursue new leads into the Know Evil investigation. They travel to the Vo Nyugen station in Earth orbit and encounter something they never anticipated . . . relative peace and quiet. The station is peaceful and no one seems to be gunning for them, at least for now. So what do these battered and scarred agents do when no one's trying to kill them? Some stay focused on the case, while others try to find some personal peace in their own lives. Some make questionable decisions regarding seed AIs. Find out how the team handles this calm before the storm!