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Ladies and Gentlemen, people of all genders, and gifted woodland animals, this is Ben Riggs, Brad Davies, and Sarah Babe coming to you with a very special message.
Since starting Plot Points in September 2013, we have …
One last call for alcohol! Ben, Brad, & Sarah dive deep into OSR darling and Zinequest champion, Barkeep on the Borderlands!
If you want to talk …
Well. That blew up and went everywhere. Ben responds to some comments and thoughts here on episode 263. With him as always is Dr. Scott!
If you want to talk about this more, here is a (functional) link to the Discord: …
We have lived in a bright and fortunate time as TTRPG fans for over a decade. Have recent events brought that to an end? Historian Ben Riggs & academic Dr. Scott Bruner reflect.
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This week, game designer Julian Kay talks to Sarah, Ben, & Brad about his current RPG hotness, Mutants in the Now, which takes a modern look at …
Learn the secrets of the steward and the castellan in this week's episode of Reading the DMG Aloud with historian Ben Riggs & academic Scott Bruner!
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An interview with the creators of a GM-less RPG of eldritch horror, Becky Annison & Josh Fox! Back their crowdfunding campaign here!
We take a break from the 1st edition DMG this week to ask a different question: Is the 4th ed Player's Handbook the greatest intro to the game in its history?
Join us over on Discord! It’s booming over there! Here’s a …
RPG historian Ben Riggs and RPG academic Dr. Scott Bruner continue their long chew on the Sage section of the 1st editin AD&D DMG!
Join us over on Discord! It's booming over there! Here's a link!
Historian Ben Riggs & RPG academic Dr. Scott Bruner chew over the sage from the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide!
Here's a link to the …
We're back with Sarah Babe of Encounter Party and gamer about town Brad Davies to review the new quickstart rules from Critical Role, Candela Obscura!
It's a celebration today as we recognize the graduation of Scott Bruner, Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin! We also discuss sages!
Join us on Discord! It’s booming over there! (https://discord.gg/95nH7AdnyA)
We talk about the D&D movie a mere two months after it came out, and then march on with our merciless read-aloud of the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide.
Join us on Discord! It’s booming over there! (…
We continue our unrelenting and merciless recitation of the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide. This week! Gem cutters and heavy cavalry! Oh my!
Join us on Discord! It’s booming over there! (…
Hobilar? Hobilar? What the heck is a hobilar?
Harken and enjoy the 1st edition DMG's rules for expert NPCs as read and commented on by RPG …
Haberdashers! Teamsters! And more! Oh my! Harken and enjoy the 1st edition DMG's rules for expert NPCs as read and commented on by RPG historian Ben …
We're back! Hear Ben & Scott talk over the equipment list in the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide!
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Hear friends of the show Craig Campbell (Good Strong Hands) and Peter Petrusha (Rest in Pieces) talk about their experience being nominated for ENnies this year! Vote for the pair of them here!
At last! Ben's book on …
Hear about armor and Armor Class in the 1st edition DMG with Ben Riggs and Scott Bruner!
Join us on Discord! It’s booming over there! (https://discord.gg/95nH7AdnyA)
Preorder Ben’s book on TSR history by clicking here,…
Today, we start with the value and uses of gems and stones.
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Preorder Ben's book on TSR history by clicking here, and you will receive FOR FREE …
Today, we finally conclude our alignment discussion by talking about changing alignment!
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Preorder Ben's book on TSR history by clicking here, …
At long last, we wrap up our discussion of alignment with alignment languages.
Here's a link to the article on RPGs and religion Ben referenced in …
We continue our discussion of alignment, diving down on the alignment graph!
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Preorder Ben's book on TSR history by clicking here, and you …
We now have a channel on Discord! (https://discord.gg/95nH7AdnyA) Come on over to chat.
…
What's your alignment?
Historian Ben Riggs & academic Scott Bruner read aloud the section of the DMG on alignment.
We now have a channel on Discord! Come on over to chat.
Preorder Ben's book on TSR history by …
Listen as Scott and Ben discuss Gygax's thoughts on the monster as PC...
Preorder Ben's book on TSR history by clicking here, and you will receive FOR FREE a bookplate featuring art by D&D icon Jeff Easley and …
Once again, RPG academic Scott Bruner and RPG historian Ben Riggs convene to read and chew over the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide!
Preorder Ben's book on TSR history by clicking here, and you will receive FOR FREE a …
Once again, RPG academic Scott Bruner and RPG historian Ben Riggs convene to read and chew over the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide!
Interested in Ben's book? Preorder it from the store of your choice here!
Check out …
Interested in Ben's book? Preorder it from the store of your choice here!
…
Interested in Ben's book? Enter here to win an early reader's copy!
Ben …
Again, Scott Bruner & Ben Riggs return to discuss the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide!
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is …
Explore the seas! Discover shanties! Watch them come to life before your very eyes! Experience a game like no other from RPG luminary Tristan …
Which races love money and a good time the most? Why are those the axes Gygax chose to judge races in the first place? Weirder questions and thoughts …
Behold Secrets of the Vibrant Isle! The solo RPG on Kickstarter right now by revolutionary game designer Craig Campbell! Explore the wonders and …
Play a trash panda! Raid suburbs for the garbage that is rightfully yours! Check it out here!
One of our favorite publishers is Pelgrane Press. Geek journalist extraordinaire Ben Riggs sat down with Pelgrane co-owner Cat Tobin to see what the …
Synthicide: Sharpers in the Dark takes the setting from a bestselling game of grimdark cyberpunk and translates it into the brilliant Forged in the Dark game system. Listen to find out more in this interview with …
These bards go to eleven!
Gamer glitterati Satine Phoenix and Jamison Stone of Apotheosis Studios are Kickstarting a campaign of intrigue and art, songs and spycraft, portraying a city in which art and abomination …
A D&D adventure with a rocket ship? Probe "Kandlekeep Dekonstrukted" by Amy Vorpahl, part of Candlekeep Mysteries for 5E!
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick …
Imagine running an adventure online, and instead of books, notes, and PDFs, everything is in a single app, right before your eyes. Now imagine the app has art from world-class artists, and design from RPG luminaries. …
City of Winter and Fall of Magic are story games centered around journeys in fantasy worlds. Play revolves around gorgeous, hand-made scrolls, and …
Hear a stellar panel of nerds discuss the Appendix N text, At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft! Included are 7th edition Call of Cthulhu …
An impenetrable table! Rolling attributes! Hear the 1st edition DMG read aloud with RPG academic Scott Bruner and host Ben Riggs! Eighth in a series!
Inspired by epic poetry and pulp television, John Harper & Sean Nittner's Agon takes an old system, dice pools, and makes it new to produce a …
Is Vaesen the best new RPG of the year? How does it stack up against Call of Cthulhu as a horror game? What does it teach about how to make an …
Unnatural aging and disease! Hear the 1st edition DMG read aloud with RPG academic Scott Bruner and host Ben Riggs! Seventh in a series!
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click …
Hear the 1st edition DMG read aloud with RPG academic Scott Bruner and host Ben Riggs! Sixth in a series!
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential …
Urban Shadows is the addicting as hell PbtA game of machiavellian monsters living in metropolises! Its second edition has new fun faction rules, and …
Explore Dustin DePenning's carbines and demons sci-fi RPG! It's on Kickstarter right now, and has a fascinating new game engine in its bloody and …
Lester Smith is a stalwart of GDW and TSR, designer of such games and Dark Conspiracy and Dragon Dice! He has a new game out, D13 which uses a D4 and …
A role-playing game like no other. In Rest in Pieces you are room-mates with Death! In addition to a story concept never before seen, RiP takes RPG …
Craig Campbell is an innovative RPG designer whose current Kickstarter, Good Strong Hands, is a game of relationships and fantasy exploration inspired by fictions like The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, and Willow!
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Hear the 1st edition DMG read aloud with RPG academic Scott Bruner and host Ben Riggs! Fifth in a series!
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on DriveThruRPG. Click here to pick up this essential …
A warlock-based 5E campaign inspired by a heavy metal album? And the album was retooled and recorded by the Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra? Can …
We're back after an unexpected two-week hiatus with Dale Donovan, an editor, game designer, TSR alum, and Dragon Magazine veteran. He takes us through a career that made him a witness to some pivotal events in RPG …
How the deal to buy the world's first role-playing game company was negotiated and sealed. Ben Riggs has interviewed those who were there and can …
The 2020 version of my research on how TSR went from grossing $40 million a year to being bought by Wizards of the Coast. Performed live at Gen Con Online!
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on …
Imagine inserting Cthulhu, Aladdin, and the Easter Bunny in your 5E campaign. That is exactly the kind of role-playing madness allowed by …
RPG designer WJ MacGuffin comes on the show to talk Paranoia, the dystopic/comic sci-fi RPG of clones and treason! They've got Project Infinite Hole …
Mark Diaz Truman is one of the madcap masterminds of Magpie Games. Magpie's Zombie World, a card-based, Powered by the Apocalypse game of zombie …
David Larkins, writer of Berlin: The Wicked City takes us on a tour of Weimar Berlin, now with more tentacles!
Learn more about Chaosium in the 21st …
Robin Laws had a dream, which led him to write a short story, and use that to create The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. Once HP Lovecraft dreamed of a …
John Tynes writes RPGs so good it makes me stutter. I've interviewed him twice. Each time, I've been fidgety and nervous beforehand. The man's games take up the #1 and #2 slots on the RPG.net game index! That's a …
Michael Prescott is the motivating genius behind Trilemma Adventures, a beautiful book of two-page adventures for fantasy role-playing games. How did …
Brad, Sarah, & Ben take a deep dive on Thousand Year Old Vampire, the lonely RPG where you live the life of an immortal undead!
Check out the bizarre gaming deeps at Tim Hutchings' Play Generated Map & Document …
Hear the 1st edition DMG read aloud with RPG academic Scott Bruner and host Ben Riggs!
Learn more about the conference Scott talked about, NarraScope, here.
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on …
A solo game of "lonely role-playing" allows you to become an immortal drinker of lives! Ben Riggs interviews game-creator and total mensch Tim …
Hear the 1st edition DMG read aloud with RPG academic Scott Bruner and host Ben Riggs!
Also, check out Ben's prior work on demons & devils & Dungeons & Dragons, and this 60 Minutes piece on D&D from the …
Imagine a notebook with everything you need to create your own fantasy campaign already in it. Blank hex maps, pages set up for charts, even …
Worldwide Wrestling is the Powered by the Apocalypse game of furious sports entertainment! The game both highlights the strength of the Apocalypse …
Bluebeard's Bride from Magpie Games is a revolution in RPGs. Players take on the role of one character, just one among the group of them, and …
Listen to history professor Glenn McDorman and ENnie Award-winning designer Jacob Hurst discuss "The Scarlet Citadel" by Robert E. Howard, and the story's influence on RPGs! You can check out Glenn's Elder Sign podcast …
Academic Scott Bruner and Ben Riggs read aloud and comment on the 1st edition Dungeon Master’s Guide by Gary Gygax, an attempt by the game’s …
Emily Care Boss is the brilliant designer of games like The Romance Trilogy, and Bubblegumshoe. With Ben Riggs, she chews over game theory, her career, and how Ars Magica may have directly inspired some of the most …
Imagine a world where teachers used RPGs as teaching tools. That is the world the Teacher-Gamer Handbook aims to bring about. Zachary Reznichek is a …
Academic Scott Bruner and Ben Riggs read aloud and comment on the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide by Gary Gygax, an attempt by the game's …
The Plot Points gang continues looking at Descent into Avernus chapter-by-chapter. This week, we visit Baldur's Gate, and then descend into the pit itself!
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, Encounter Theory, is on …
Bill Bridges worked on some of the most phenomenal game products of the 1990s at White Wolf, and he's back with a Kickstarter for a new edition of …
Peek behind the curtain at the stores and supply chains that make the RPG industry run with Micheal Parker of ACD Distribution. How did the industry weather the '08 recession? How does the RPG industry look on the sales …
Ptolus was the home campaign Monte Cook ran while designing 3rd edition D&D. Brimming with brilliant fodder for the gaming table, it quickly sold …
Once upon a time, the TSR offices were in downtown Lake Geneva in an old hotel. These are the stories of that building.
Ben’s book on RPG adventure …
An academic, a game professional, and your host gather to review Richard Stanley's latest effort, an HP Lovecraft adaptation: The Colour Out of Space …
How did HP Lovecraft's "Colour Out of Space" influence gaming? Academic Scott Bruner, Chaosium stalwart Jim Lowder, and host Ben Riggs gather to …
The RPG business has been growing like gangbusters since the Great Recession. Recent numbers from Diamond Comics and Kickstarter provoke a question: Is that growth coming to an end?
Ben’s book on RPG adventure design, …
Vampire: The Masquerade 5th edition tries to re-start and re-introduce itself to the gaming community with the New Blood Starter Pack. Designed for gaming novices, the product tries to introduce the player to the …
Possibly no novel had a greater impact on Dungeons & Dragons than Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson. Law, chaos, the paladin, the …
The only thing keeping humanity from extinction among the stars is The Last Fleet, a new role-playing game by Joshua Fox using the Powered by the …
Ben Riggs interviews Ed Greenwood, father of the Forgotten Realms, about his 1987 agreement with TSR wherein he sold the rights to the Realms for …
In this Best of Plot Points episode, the gang checks out a gem from the early aughts from Fantasy Flight, Fireborn! It's a game where you play a reincarnated dragon living in a London where magic is coming alive again.
Enjoy Robert J. Schwalb's delve into dark fantasy with Shadow of the Demon Lord. Tremble in fear, be afraid, and game away! New Plot Points will …
In August of 1996, TSR employees rushed from the exhibit hall at Gen Con to the federal courthouse in downtown Milwaukee to sue Wizards of the Coast and Acclaim Entertainment, filing the lawsuit before the convention …
R. Talsorian Games is one of the ancient and storied RPG companies of the 1980s which has really hit the ground running again in the second decade of the 21st century. They are most well known for 1987’s Cyberpunk, the …
Zombie World takes the Powered by the Apocalypse engine and breaks it out into decks of cards. It promises, fast, fun, and bloody undead action. Brad, Sarah, and Ben try it out at their gaming table!
Ben’s book on RPG …
Americans, enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday with this deep cut from the Plot Points archives, our first-ever episode, Ravenloft!
The Delta Green …
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