Most RPGs are terrible at information design. Sections are split up for no discernible reason, key elements are hidden away in blocks of text, and indexes are non-existent or terrible. We went over 3 books to analyze why they are so bad and why game designers would do this:
Fates Worse Than Death by Brian St. Claire King
Street Fighter Player’s Guide by Andrew Lucas
Rifts Adventure Sourcebook 2: Chi-Town ‘Burbs: Firetown & the Tolkeen Crisis is an odd duck. It focuses on providing plot hooks for running adventures in a sprawling city in the shadow of the Coalition States. It also features a fully fleshed out team of adventurers out for revenge against the CS. Six fully written up adventurers with personalities and back stories who aren’t just punching bags or mary sues. It’s weird, I know. Shaun and I discuss what kind of TV show would best suit these characters.
Looks like we’ve already covered Vampire Kingdoms in After Hours, so Faust picked Warlords of Russia to explore. What’s in post-apocalyptic Russia? Medieval peasants and combat cyborgs. Oh and hordes of monsters. And as many Russian stereotypes you can shake a bear at.
Two RPPR fans and fellow podcasters, Noah and Jeb visited us a few weeks back and they brought gifts. Namely, a stack of old RPGs and Dragon magazines. Aaron, Shaun, I, and our two guests sampled a bit from these new additions to the After Hours library. It’s an eclectic mixture, to say the least.
Be sure to check out Maple Syrup, Blood Money , Noah’s podcast on Riverdale!
In the post-apocalyptic hellscape that is Rifts England, skyscraper sized trees are very insecure about their popularity. That’s why they bribe their friends with magic leaves, sticks, and bark. Also, King Arr’thuu (yes that is his name) wields Caliber-X to protect New Camelot from evil forces. Little does he know his girlfriend, Guinvere, is actually an alien intelligence. Well, part of one. A fragment, really. Like Mrrlyn. It’s complicated.
Atlantis is too big of a book to cover in just one episode, so Faust, Shaun, and I delve into it again! We cover everything tattoo magic to bio-wizardry. Atlantis is basically the interdimensional super mall of evil, so there’s a lot of crazy stuff to buy. It’s the ultimate murderhobo shopping list.
After the release of the Bright teaser trailer, it has become clear to us that Netflix is buying whatever geeky/RPG material they can find. So I convened a round table of the RPPR cast (Caleb, Dan, Tom, and Shaun) to figure out some of the best pitches we could share with Netflix. Find out the secret behind the crying child in a barrel!
Titles reviewed or mentioned:
Atlantis is the heart of the Rifts setting, even moreso than North America. It’s an evil empire run by a godlike alien intelligence who just wants to sell you some rune swords and slaves. It is the ultimate RPG shop for murderhobos. Faust, Shaun, and I delve into the geography and culture of Atlantis, at least as much as we can in one episode. Clearly, this will be a two parter. Check out that swole owl man!
Rifts Sourcebook One is a hodgepodge of new villains, monsters, robots, and GEAR. But more importantly it introduces a new antagonist, the evil AI, ARCHIE THREE. There’s an entire adventure based on fighting the AI’s fake evil brain! It’s not that great of an adventure but who cares because fake alien warrior women robots!
Shaun and I guide Faust back into the depths of Rifts. Find out what happened to both the West and East coasts after the Rifts! Find out steroids are more powerful than bionics! Learn the true measure of a hero by their boxing ability! All this and more as we try to get through the random insanity of Rifts.
