RPPR Actual Play

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?

CONTRIBUTE TO THE RUINS OF LEMURIA KICKSTARTER TO GET 10 PREVIEW AP EPISODES! What happens after the heroes pass through Sucrose Park and defeat Cool Rat? A group of kids finds out that robots with true AI, self-replicating technology and errant programming shouldn't be left unmonitored. Kids have been kidnapped from tourist traps from around the country and forced to join strange factions in a weird underground facility. The robots have something planned but it's hard to tell what. This game is based on material from the campaign Road Trip published by Arc Dream.

DONATE TO THE RUINS OF LEMURIA KICKSTARTER TO GET 10 FREE AP EPISODES The Water Barons investigate one of the new cities that has risen up in the last year - a wild port town, lawless and full of smugglers. Little do they know an old enemy has taken up residence there. Can the heroic characters survive a brutal fight with the powers that run the wildest town in the frontier?

When insomniacs spend too long without sleep, they either die or find a way to the Mad City when the clock strikes thirteen. Several desperate insomniacs facing great problems find themselves in a world with boys made of paper, constables made of clocks and much worse. Don't Rest Your Head is a game developed by Fred Hicks, so if you like this AP, check the game out.

Read the prequel to this adventure first! A group of desperate and cursed adventurers find themselves in the wilderness outside of Urik. As they travel to the city, they come across a bewildered teenager who has no idea how he got there. But as deadly as the barren desert is, the greatest dangers to the bearers of the artifact are inside the walls of the city. Urik is a brutal military state where danger is not obvious and in the open but comes from the shadows. Find out how our protagonists fare in this episode of the RPPR Dark Sun campaign!

Chicago is a dirty town in a dirty world, especially on the coldest night of the year. Two gangs fall and a power vacuum is left in their former territory. Five homeless men die under mysterious circumstances and two detectives look into it despite being ordered to bury the case. A naive drug dealer is given a simple errand - find a man named Andrew. A pair of shady schemers looking for a bigger slice of the action drive in from Vegas. This is but a small part of a tangled web connected by Andrew's fortune.

The epic tier of the New World Campaign begins! A year has passed between the end of paragon tier and the beginning of epic tier. The colonization of the New World has gone into full swing. Several new cities have been built and thousands of colonists call the New World home. Yet in the taverns people whisper of revolution against the Old World for its unfair treatment of the colonies. Only the Water Barons have the strength to start a revolution. When they decide to throw off the chains of tyranny, the Crown sends a group of angels to defeat the rebels. Find out if the Water Barons can defeat the angels in game 31.

A group of high powered beings have been charged with assassinating Omar Shakti, the immortal servant of Nyarlathotep, a powerful sorcerer. Yithian super technology, mythos sorcerery and mayhem come into play as New York is torn apart by the chaos. Will the agents complete their task or will Omar complete his diabolical plan?

Cortez has a crisis of faith as the expedition discovers the presence of old gods in the New World. While some counsel Cortez to remain faithful, others care more about their own agenda. Learn more about the New World before the colony arrived in the second Gaiden game.

The Slender Man is a terrifying entity associated with the mysterious disappearances of many individuals. In the gated community of Fiddler's Green, four children have gone missing and the case has gone cold. A documentary film crew has just shown up to investigate. Will they find out what happened to the children or will they also disappear into the embrace of the Slender Man?

Many years before the Water Barons first set foot on the New World, Cortez led a secret crusade to stop a great evil from consuming the world. He is accompanied by a faithful priest, vengeful wizard and hardened mercenary warrior. Find out what the New World was like before the Old World had established its colonies.

I picked up Greg Stolze's Film Noir inspired game, A Dirty World at Gencon this year and ran it for the first time recently. Inspired by material I had read from Reefer Madness about the meat packing industry and a recent article in Wired about Picher Oklahoma, I whipped up a quick neo-noir scenario based on a Superfund buyout. The players find themselves opposed to each other as everyone wants the land for their own reason. The small town of Arcadia Kansas is about to become a very dangerous place...that is you want in on the buy out.

The grimdark world of Athas is not one for the weak or foolish. The gods are dead, water is scarce and civilization is ruled by evil immortal sorcerer kings. A group of disparate wanderers and vagabonds find themselves drawn together by a cursed artifact while on a caravan bound for the city state of Tyr. But even in the relative safety of the city, they cannot pull away from the artifact and mysterious forces that seek their destruction. This episode combines the first two sessions of the new RPPR Dark Sun campaign.

The liberty ships of World War 2 were hastily constructed cargo ships that moved desperately needed supplies from North America to Europe. They were built in weeks and many sank. On one ship, the Bell Island, the crew finds an alien stowaway that is seeking to take over. Can the menace be stopped in time? This scenario was run at Gencon 2010 and was created and run by Tom Church.

The end of paragon tier in the New World campaign! The Water Barons must deal with the internal division caused by the revelations of the late Bright Eyes. They must also get the Water and Fire spirit to marry if they are to get their wedding band, a crucial item in their quest to save the grippli from extinction. Many plot threads and resolved while hints of what lies ahead in epic are in this episode.

You made this possible: Aaron's first convention game of Call of Cthulhu. He's ran Tom's Divine Fire scenario. Prisoners stuck in a remote Nazi science camp are forced to work together to survive the winter weather and inhuman monsters. Can the boy scout Aaron give the scenario a proper run? Listen to find out!

In the chromed future wireless Internet access does not exist but full conversion cyborgs are commonplace. Computers Cyberdecks have less memory and processing power than an iPhone but can be used to hack military data fortresses in 'the grid' and making a mistake can kill the unlucky netrunner. This is the past future of Cyberpunk, the classic R. Talsorian RPG and home to Lady Gaga 2.0 and her entourage of sociopathic cybered and coked up killers. There's a mission to recover a suitcase from some dude in a hotel, but honestly it's all about headshots, cybernetics and drugs. Oh and the nauesator.

The investigation into the death of Sigmund, the leader of the crusaders, reaches a climax as the Water Barons close in on Bright Eyes, the elusive gnome rogue, murderer and now vampire. Even a bounty hunter named Kane is on his trail. What hope is there for this chaotic evil serial killer?

I ran a game of Candlewick Manor at Gencon 2009 for 7 lucky players including my co-host Tom Church. In short, bad things happen to weird children. The new orphans of Candlewick find themselves confronted with a lake monster, the strange residents of Candlewick township and more! What a tangled web we weave...

After defeating the lich Numeides, the Water Barons find themselves embroiled in a number of intrigues and mysteries. Their agendas often collide, leading to deception and distrust. As they delve into morally gray and black areas, will they lose sight of their original goal or stay true to the cause of protecting the innocent grippli at all cost? Find out what schemes are unfolded in this episode. Thanks to Violet for the art, (which has nothing to do with this episode but it looks cool).

A group of unwary party goers finds themselves caught in a forgotten nuclear fallout bunker from the Cold War. Strange people have lived for decades in the bunker and even darker secrets lie wait to be uncovered. Inspired by the book Survival City, I ran this one shot last year using the Fear Itself system. Enjoy!

The Water Barons now face a lich, Numeides, and must defeat the vile undead sorcerer. Can they defeat her? What is the secret to her phylactery? Will the people next door turn down their music? All this and more in New World episode 27!

Designed as the ultimate daycare center, Las Vegas’ Sucrose Park looks after thousands of kids while their parents gamble away their college tuition in nearby casinos. A corporate wonderland of rides, ball pits, arcades and the mascot CoolRat await. Too bad the owner of the park never wants anyone to leave. Ever. Instead, when the parents come to pick up their kids, a robot duplicate is given to them and few parents notice the difference. After all, they’re too concerned with how much money they just lost. The players discover that the owner is a monster who decided that it couldn’t be friends with just one kid, it had to be friends with all children. All the neon lights and laser tag arenas can’t hide the fact that Sucrose Park is a prison. It’s time to break out.

The Water Barons have finally defeated Cortez but the end of the war brings new challenges. As the shipyards come close to completion, Pontifex has new work for them, including a rival lich, Numeides. But before our stalwart adventurers can even find the lich, they need to defeat a powerful undead beholder. Find out what this new lich is up to and how the players decide to deal with the beholder in this episode of the New World campaign!

You are cordially invited to a Night at the Opera. A town called Groversville is a hotbed of UFO activity and one of its residents has recently shown...disturbing inhuman abilities. You are to meet with your cell and determine what is going on in the town. Be Seeing You.

Cortez's army has been defeated but Cortez still remains in power. How can the Water Barons remove the tyrant from power once and for all? In this session, they journey to Cortez's territory to confront the madman in a dramatic confrontation. The fate of a nation is decided in this episode. Special thanks to Ean Moody for the art!