RPPR Actual Play

News: Support the Killsplosion Kickstarter and get access to 10 preview RPPR AP episodes! In this episode, the heroes of New Arcadia continue their war against the Syndicate. They discover a weapons manufacturing facility hidden in the city controlled by the Syndicate. The heroes must figure out a way to get inside the facility and destroy the machinery before the Syndicate thugs stop them. They also learn more of the Syndicate's structure, leadership and plans. What dark mysteries will they uncover? Find out in this double length episode!

News: Support RPPR with the new ransom game, Killsplosion! Get 10 preview AP episodes! Two office workers check into a banal hotel as a winter storm hits the city. Little do they suspect that the hotel is a nexus for unspeakable evil. This evil is not a man or an entity but the hotel itself. Brace yourself for a blast of architectural horror from RPPR!

News: Support RPPR with the new ransom game, Killsplosion! Get 10 preview AP episodes! The Firewall team barely escapes the hellish space station known as Thought, only to find themselves at the edge of a massive conspiracy. In order to learn more, they must make connections with the criminal underworld in order to track down the human trafficker that led them into Thought in the first place. There are two ways to gain the favor they need - to win an underground gladiatorial fight or win at Mahjong vs powerful criminal bosses. The crew decides to try both. Find out if their luck holds out in this episode!

This episode is sponsored by Audible Books. Sign up today and get a free 14 day trial and audiobook. In the conclusion of the RPPR Dark Sun campaign, our heroes find themselves under siege. Desperate villagers attack them while their erstwhile allies are as dangerous as ever. How will they get out of the antlion's pit? Find out in this last episode of Dark Sun! A note: We stopped playing Dark Sun shortly after this session for various reasons - one of them being burned out on fantasy. So, we switched to Wild Talents. I find it unfortunate that there will be no resolution but perhaps that is fitting given the nature of Dark Sun itself.

Three Harvard college students find themselves stranded in the wilderness of Maine. A man lurches in front of their car as they travel through the forest. The man is injured and their only shelter is a house near the road. Little do they know of the ancient evil that dwells in the house. This one shot is from the magazine Worlds of Cthulhu issue #4. I ran the scenario back in 2009 and I've never had a chance to post it until now. Enjoy!

In a grimdark post-apocalyptic future, where the earth has been devastated by nuclear war, dimensional rifts and Nazi cos-players, only a few gritty heroes stand between a new apocalypse, a post-post apocalypse or a meta apocalypse or an apocalypse squared or a neo-apocalypse or an epic apocalypse or a mega damage apocalypse or a dragon cyborg juicer apocalypse wielding a rune blade with Atlantean tattoos. Yeah. HARDCORE. In other words, I ripped off the plot of a movie called The Eliminators and forced the players into a game of Rifts. Deal with it.

Learn more about the campaign on the RPPR forums. In the future, only 5% of humanity remains after rogue AIs known as the TITANs turned Earth into a hellish wasteland and then disappeared. The remainder lives throughout the solar system. Only a secret vigilante organization known as Firewall protects humanity from the remnants of the TITANs and any other existential threats. One team of low level Firewall sentinels has been assigned to investigate Thought, a space station owned by the hypercorpration Cognite in orbit over Venus after an undercover agent assigned to the station went missing. More disturbingly, the backup of her mind is corrupt - something that should be impossible. The team consists of Bartleby: A lost generation brinker, Preston: an uplifted octopus socialite, SAIRAC, an argonaut AGI, Fayun, a Lunar criminal and Gerrad a Fall Evacuee anarchist. Infiltrating a secret orbital research facility will be hard to accomplish to say the least. How will they get in and what will they discover? Find out in this first double length episode of Eclipse Phase: Know Evil!

The war against crime continues! In this double length episode, our heroes first encounter a fellow metahuman, Raoul - a skilled underground fighting champion. He has a problem though - a death cult has kidnapped his child. He needs the help of a few heroes to rescue his kid and stop the cult. In the second half of this episode, the heroes encounter two lieutenants in the Syndicate and their henchmen. The battle that ensues will be the hardest one they have fought yet. Listen to find out who gets set on fire and more!

At Gencon this year, Caleb and I sat down for a chance to play in one of Adam Scott Glancy's WW1 Call of Cthulhu games. This time, we were pilots for British Army on a night time bombing mission. 3 de Havilland DH4 planes, each with a pilot and gunner. Unfortunately, one of the bombs was dropped on the wrong place and certain seals are broken. Find out what the hapless pilots awaken and if they make it back to friendly territory!

I finally got a chance to try out the indie RPG, Fiasco at Gencon this year. I played with several people from the Arc Dream crew, including Shane Ivey and Greg Stolze. We used the Transatlantic playset: The time is 1932, the place? Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic aboard the luxury cruise ship Leviathan, a week out of Southampton en route to New York. On this flagship cruiser’s maiden voyage, the Captain has been directed to quietly contend for the glorious Blue Riband — the accolade awarded to the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Topside, you enjoy a salty Gibson while pulling the heavy double wool of your coat closer to your body. Friends make merry with lively talk amongst themselves — it’s a din barely overheard above the hammering engine and thresh of the ship’s mighty propellers. Spray from the bow’s cleave manages to catch your cheek even this far aft. Your gaze draws across the dull, slate waters wondering at the marvel of it all: New beginnings? Maybe this time things will be different? Perhaps your dreams are within reach? What could possibly go wrong?

An Eclipse Phase Scenario written by Anders Sandberg and available as a free PDF. "We call it the gorgon-in-a-box problem. There is a gorgon inside the box, and we want to figure out what it is doing. Unfortunately we will turn to stone if we see her face, and she might try to make us see it. Dr Toshiro Driscoll-Toyoda, presentation to Naos Planning Board

In this episode of the New Arcadia campaign, our heroes have begun the fight against the Syndicate - a powerful criminal organization dedicated to consolidating its control over all organized crime in the state. It achieves this through the use of illegal super-soldier technology. Their enforcers are capable of taking down dozens of normal thugs in a battle so they have taken most of the city's criminal underworld. But our heroes have a lead on the tech used to make the super soldiers. Find out what the lead uncovers in this episode!

I was fortunate enough to meet up with Ennie-award winner Kirin Robinson at this year's Gencon and talk him into running a session of his game, Old School Hack. It's a free, rules-light game of adventuring and dungeon crawling. Characters can be fighters or dwarves but not dwarven fighters. Caleb and I joined Simeon and Meg from the Arc Dream crew with the Angry DM as we went on a quest of liberation and adventure!

We played these games a while ago. Funny story about this. I thought we played 3 sessions but in fact, Tom ran 4 sessions of this mini campaign. I scheduled these games to be posted while I was away at Gencon 2011. I did not think that there was a fourth game until a listener commented about it to me. So, I checked the archives and found the ACTUAL conclusion of the game. So, uh, enjoy the dramatic finale of Tom's action extravaganza!

The battle between the Terminator and the League reach an epic conclusion. The terminator has one last gambit - to storm NORAD and trigger Judgment Day. In order to stop him, our heroes and their allies have to confront the deadly cyborg and his personal army. All this and more in the dramatic conclusion of The Modern League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Judgment Day!

The unlikely heroes of the modern league have discovered that a T-800 Terminator has been secretly planning to cause Judgment Day. In order to stop him, they must find and destroy a secret weapon factory. Of course that factory is heavily guarded - including a certain mecha made by the OCP Corporation...

In a world seemingly like ours, many secrets lie hidden in the secrets. Aliens walk among us. Magic is real. Angels kill mortals on orders from heaven. In this world, the future is very much in jeopardy. Time travel tends to upset the natural order of things after all. Only a small band of experts can save our future. They are the modern league of extraordinary gentlemen.

What happens to a world whose heroes disappear overnight? One year ago, every major superhero and supervillain disappeared in an event now called Ragnarok. Since then, thousands of normal humans have acquired means to empower themselves. Spell books float around on the Internet. Technology stolen from abandoned bases and secret headquarters has been reverse engineered for countless knock offs. In a city on the West Coast called New Arcadia, a group of ragtag civilians with new superpowers has arisen to take the place of the missing superheroes. In the first episode, these amateur heroes meet at the site of a terrorist attack on a federal courthouse. They must rescue hostages and defeat heavily armed killers. Can they pass this trial by fire?But that isn't all! This episode combines the first two sessions of the campaign. After their first skirmish, some of the heroes take their first step into becoming a super team. Can they overcome their personal problems or will bickering and infighting doom their efforts? Read more about the Heroes of New Arcadia here.

Since the last episode of Dark Sun, our protagonists have been stranded in a remote corner of Athas: The Silt Sea. They are surrounded by foes and untrustworthy rivals but they must work together with a group of NPC adventurers in order to survive. In this small island on the silt sea, a buried secret reveals itself...a secret that promises great rewards but only the strong will live long enough to claim it. Can the cursed bearers of the artifact survive this most dangerous ordeal yet?

Once upon a time before the light had been born, there was a great darkness that covered the world. Our people could not yet see and we were helpless against the things that did crawl in the darkness. From the cold, hard ground the Great King fashioned guardians and explorers. They were crude and callous nor did they have proper souls like you or I. Yet our Great King made them so they would help us in this time of darkness. These earthen men did not respond, except for a small band. They were infused with water so they were far greater than the other earthen men, almost as great as us. The Great King set great tasks upon them to bring about the birth of light. With gentle guidance from the first king, highest servant of the Great King, these brave and simple creatures eventually brought forth the light that created our world. The eyes of our people could now see the glory and splendor of everything! The other earthen creatures displeased Great King for their failure and moved to destroy them all yet first king begged for their lives. A few of them had gone above and beyond their limitations. Surely, the others might also transcend their base nature! Great King saw this and spared the lives of all the lesser species you see today. As for the heroic earthen men, they were granted titles of nobility and became true Grippli, transformed by Great King as a reward for their heroism. They were the first Water Barons and all the heroic water barons you hear of defending our kingdom strive to emulate them. What's that? You want to know how the Water Barons saved the light and fought back the darkness? Well, it is a very long story but it all began with a journey to an unexplored continent. You see, the kingdom of the earthen men wanted to colonize a savage land far from their own shores... -old Grippli creation myth, as transcribed from the stories of an old Grippli king (The Ruins of Lemuria PDF is now available!)

Zombies of the World is now shipping! Buy your copy today! The final playtest for the upcoming Gencon 2011 Wild Talents game introduces a new group. Tim, Wes and Adam join Caleb and Mike as the newly empowered civilian survivors in the New Arcadia zombie outbreak. With the same basic scenario, what different decisions will they make and how will they respond to the challenges of undead hordes, flesh eating superheroes and a looming nuclear apocalypse? Find out in this episode!

The Great Armada of the Old World has reached the shores of the New World. Can the forces of New Arcadia, led by the heroic Water Barons, defeat the vast forces arrayed against them? While they are outnumbered, the adventurers have more than a few tricks up their sleeves...Only one episode of the New World Campaign remains!

After seeing the film, Daybreakers, I was inspired to run a one shot based on it. Instead of following the main story of the movie though, I based it on a simple premise: the players are vampire citizens in the big city on the night when the blood riots break out. Using the All Flesh Must Be Eaten rules to model the horrific blood-starved subsiders, I let the players come up with their own plans for surviving the night. It was a short but entertaining game.

The Armada of the Old World draws near to the rebelling colonies of the New World. It is up to the Water Barons to prepare the defenses in order to repel the Armada. To accomplish this, they must recruit as many allies as possible, including the unpredictable nature spirits. Only two episodes remain in the New World Campaign!

In the Great Depression, millions turned to religion to ease their suffering. A preacher in Louisiana ran a tent revival to help the masses and spread the good word. However, on one dark night the preacher is shot in his own home with his own gun. A private eye from New Orleans is hired by his family to get to the truth...or at least a convenient truth that will ignore a few secrets. A jazz musician is also brought into the intrigues as everyone involved finds out that the wages of sin...must be paid.

The Water Barons must rescue the powerful nature spirit Coyote from the cult of Vecna! Of course, the cult is led by a powerful lich, so it won't be easy prying the spirit from their grasp. The cult is of course after the secrets that Coyote possesses, secrets the Water Barons need if they are to save the world from Thrazidun. The end draws nigh! Only 3 episodes left after this one.

To: Cell Q From: Andrea Subject: A Night at the Opera (attachment: Cyrano de Bergerac) STATUS: PARROT reports breach of GREEN BOX 224, hereafter DESIGNATE as PACKAGE at 0246 hours Jan 4th. DESIGNATE “Zookeeper” CONFIRMS at 0815 Jan. 5th. A-Cell BLIND on the ground due to weather. Q-cell ABORT current OBJECTIVE. New mission LOAD-OUT found in TRANSPORT with one FRIENDLY Pvt. W. MISSION PRIORITIES: CONTAINMENT of PACKAGE is highest priority. Agents should take all care to maintain OPERATIONAL SECURITY. TARGET ONE: Establish CONTACT with “Zookeeper.” CHALLENGE: “Would you like to go to the zoo?” AUTHENTICATE: “Yes, but only if I can stay outside.” TARGET TWO: Establish HOME PLATE at “Zookeeper’s” office and move to ASSESS PACKAGE. TARGET THREE: TRANSPORT PACKAGE to HOME PLATE. TARGET FOUR: Split into two units UNIT ALPHA: PLAY ZEPPO. GO SECURE using hardline modem at HOME PLATE and INVENTORY PACKAGE. Warning: minimum intelligence encouraged. Beware TOME ROT UNIT BETA: INVESTIGATE surrounding area for signs of NORWEIGIAN contamination. TARGET FIVE: A-Cell will DECLARE THREATS from BOX 224. Units REGROUP and REASSESS with new intelligence. TARGET SIX: If HOSTILES present, Q-Cell CLEARED HOT for 48 hours until ALPHABET SOUP DEPLOYMENT. ELIMINATE THE VECTOR MISSION SUCCESS: PACKAGE SECURED and OPERATIONAL SECURITY maintained until DUCK SOUP specialist arrives. MISSION FAILURE: If no NEW PICTURE established via HOME PLATE hardline by 0500 Jan. 8th, CYCLOPS will place BLUE/BLUE BIRDS in the air and SEPPPUKU PROTOCOL will be in effect for Q-cell and all relatives.

The Water Barons are closing in on the endgame of the war but a greater threat looms over them. The imprisoned dark entity is stirring within its vault and will soon awaken. In order to learn more about the secrets of the past that hold the key to the future, they must talk to the great spirit, Thunderbird. The mighty being resides deep within the wilderness of the New World. Can they find him and gain an audience? What will they learn? All this and more! Only 4 more episodes left!

PREORDER ZOMBIES OF THE WORLD NOW AND GET A FREE POSTER! In order to prepare for Gencon 2011, I wrote and playtested a Wild Talents zombie-themed one shot. A group of normal citizens wake up in a strange lab. They each have a super power due to the experiments conducted by the Parasol Corporation. Unfortunately, the same corporation has also released a zombie virus on the city of New Arcadia. This virus has turned normal citizens into mindless flesh eating ghouls and superhumans into intelligent flesh eating ghouls. Can these scrappy new heroes find a way to cure the virus, survive countless zombies and defeat 'subject zero'? This episode contains two playtests of the same scenario. The first was at Fear the Con 2011 and the second was with most of the regular RPPR group. There is a third playtest with a mix of new and old players that will be released soon.

The Water Barons are up to their necks in adventure! The armada from the Old World threatens New Arcadia and the rest of the New World. The dark entity stirs within its prison. A copper dragon is up to no good. Can the fractured group of embattled adventurers deal with this much adventure? Find out in this episode!

A critical Firewall server has been compromised by an engimatic man only known as Jacob Murphy. A team of three agents has tracked him down to a remote site near the quarantine zone on Mars. They are tasked with finding Jacob, learning his plans and stopping him. As they travel by maglev train to a small town near the terraforming site Jacob has holed up in, they realize people are already searching for them. As they leave civilization and head into the wilderness to find Jacob, what will they learn and at what price? Find out in this all new original Eclipse Phase adventure, written by Ross Payton.

Locke, the wizard of the Water Barons, has a star pupil named Anakin. Unfortunately, Anakin has been keeping secrets from his teacher and Locke will not tolerate such disobedience. Furthermore, the election of the mayor is rapidly coming to an end. At what lengths will Locke push to prevail over his wayward pupil and at what cost? All this and a vignette for Vashyk, the Dragonborn fighter and more!

It is my honor and privilege to introduce what is no doubt the finest actual play ever posted or ever will be posted on this site. This game used the classic scenario, 'The Haunting' albeit set in a modern era with a group of experienced and skilled investigators. Will they uncover the secrets of the house or will they suffer a fate worse than death? You will be thrilled, chilled and terrified by this actual play. (sorry Aaron)

I ran one of my favorite chapters from Road Trip at Fear the Con 4 with special player Chad Wattler from Fear the Boot. As before, the intrepid kids and their monster pals are investigating a strange theme park in Las Vegas called Sucrose Park. Kids enter but they never leave. At the center of the mystery is a giant brain and the bizarre mascot, Cool Rat. Enjoy! (Sorry about the noise levels but it's unavoidable during con games). Special thanks to Violet Kirk for the art!

The Water Barons have infiltrated Frost Giant society to undermine it in a desperate plan to liberate the enslaved orcs. The mighty dracolich He Who Devours Souls has been forced to work for the giants. If he can be freed, the tide can be turned. Furthermore, the giants are digging up Lemurian ruins for unknown reasons but can the Water Barons learn them before it's too late? Find out all this and more in this episode!

Eclipse Phase is an incredible transhumanist based sci-fi horror RPG. I picked up a copy at Gencon 2009 but only got to run a game of it recently. Because we were unfamiliar with the setting and system, I created a short tutorial adventure that takes place during the Fall, where most of humanity was wiped out by rogue AI systems called the TITANS. After the tutorial, I ran the adventure packaged with the GM Screen, called 'Glory'. Tom, Aaron and Caleb are agents of Firewall, a secret organization dedicated to protecting humanity from existential threats. They are tasked with finding a missing agent, Tara Yu. She was investigating a possible hidden cache of pre-Fall tech. The players discover there are fates worse than death even in a future where death is not permanent.

The Water Barons have infiltrated the frost giant city by placing their minds in several giant corpses via mind jar spell, all thanks to Pontifex the lich. Now they have to bring the giants down before they are discovered. As they learn of the political infighting of the clans, they concoct schemes to raise chaos and free the orcs. As the GM, I swear I did not realize I was ripping off Avatar until I had already announced it to the players. Sigh. Oh well. Enjoy!

The mutant heroes have uncovered a nefarious plot by an evil scientist that must be stopped. To complicate matters, delusional 'monster hunters' are tracking the heroes. In order to deal with these threats, the players must recruit aid from unlikely sources, including the reclusive engineer and the monster Zog! Listen in to find which mutant animal hero makes a guest appearance in this episode.

The Water Barons have learned that a clan of Frost Giants have enslaved an orcish settlement far to the north of New Arcadia. Cassius leads the charge as the adventurers quest to liberate the orcs. Of course, no quest is complete without a few complications and this is no different. Can the Water Barons overcome their personal differences to help the oppressed orcs of the north or will they succumb to infighting and the might of the Frost Giants? Find out in episode 37!

The year is 1935 and horror lurks in the shadows of the Great Depression. In a Hooverille near a small town of California, Bryson Springs, a man has been murdered by means most foul. A FBI agent is ordered to investigate the death even though he is currently transporting a mafia hitman to prison. A reporter from L.A. and a professor of anthropology also converge on the area, drawn by fate or curiosity. The unlikely heroes find themselves surrounded by a horror they cannot imagine, let alone perceive. Find out what awaits them in this double length episode!

The Water Barons are torn apart by schisms in their beliefs and actions. One has fallen in battle. Another hears the cry of his distant kin, far to the north, and wishes to help them. But before the party can unite to free the enslaved orcs, they must deal with the ogres near Bordertown. Mercenaries at heart, the ogres have taken to exploiting the local community for profit. When the Water Barons seek to enlist their aid to help them free the orcs, the ogres demand payment up front. Inexplicably, the Water Barons fail to grasp the basic fact that mercenaries, even if they are ogres, want to be paid before they fight. Find out how stubborn and violent the players can be when NPCs refuse to fight deadly battles for them for free.

This game system was the first RPG I ever played, so even though it hasn't aged as gracefully as some games, I'm still fond of TMNT & Other Strangeness. So last year, I ran a 2 part game using this system, gleefully maintaining all the quirks of the Palladium rules. The players are all part of the mutant animal underground, living in the forgotten and abandoned parts of The Big Apple. Of course, trouble has a way of finding them...

The Dark Sun campaign continues as our unlucky protagonists find themselves embroiled in intrigue and action in the shadows of the city. Deadly fights in the alleys, talks with rebels and scholars and cannibal buffets with a hidden price.

A team of KGB agents in cold war Berlin have to find an escaped German madman and bring him back to custody. Little do they know that darker forces are at work and as they draw nearer to the madman, the more they put their own lives and sanity at risk. The thrilling conclusion to Tom's second part of the Divine Fire trilogy!

Sarkis, agent of the Crown and adversary to the Water Barons has made a last stand at a temple of Pelor. He does have one last trick up his sleeve: portals that summon angelic warriors to his defense. Loyalties are divided in this desperate battle as well. Tensions between the Water Barons run high.

In World War 2, a remote Nazi base is destroyed and only a few escaped to tell how and why. One of the survivors was a German soldier who was later captured by the USSR. Ten years later, the German escapes and a group of KGB agents is assigned to bring him back in. The second part of Tom's Divine Fire trilogy, a new group of investigators is brought into the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. Pick up the trail and see where it goes...

The Water Barons must defeat Sarkis if their rebellion is to have any chance for success but first they must run through a gauntlet of defenses. Dedicated soldiers, cunning fortifications guard the outer edges of the city. Sarkis' greatest weapon are portals that provide an endless stream of angelic warriors to fight at his side. Can the Water Barons fight through them and get Sarkis before he flees to the Old World? You won't believe how this episode ends!

Pantheon is a GMless game developed by Robin Laws and uses a unique narrative cage match system. Special guests Patrick and Karee match wits with some regulars in the Game of Gods. In the beginning there was nothing. Then there were gods. And they were dicks. And then all kinds of crazy shit happened. Find out what kind of creation myth the mad minds behind RPPR can dream up!

CONTRIBUTE TO THE RUINS OF LEMURIA KICKSTARTER TO GET 10 PREVIEW AP EPISODES OR A SEAT A SKYPE GAME RUN BY ROSS PAYTON! The mystery surrounding Andrew deepens as Detective Marlowe and Van Hagin find themselves embroiled in gang fights and a corporate conspiracy. Cassidy and Goldberg, two scheming crooks from Las Vegas try to carve out a piece of the action for themselves but Andrew's mother and man mountain bodyguard might be too much for them. An intrepid femme fatale reporter gets mixed up in the chaos. The body count rises in the conclusion to Andrew's Fortune.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE RUINS OF LEMURIA KICKSTARTER TO GET 10 PREVIEW AP EPISODES! As for his literary pursuits, he cultivated chiefly the art of speaking which was of general service, and after making himself one of the most powerful speakers at Rome, his care and application enabled him to surpass those who were most gifted by nature...He pleased people also by the kindly and unaffected manner with which he clasped their hands and addressed them. For he never met a Roman so obscure and lowly that he did not return his greeting and call him by name. The Water Barons encounter Sarkis, a powerful and well respected loyalist to the throne. They attempt to negotiate a peace with him, but tensions between the revolutionary colonists and loyalists may doom any efforts to stop the war before it starts. The old ally of the Water Barons, the grippli named the Captain has become the Slayer, a remorseless and talented warrior. Can the heroes of the New World give peace a chance?