Rene Plays Games
Hi! I’m Rene (pronounced Rainy) and I want to share my love of roleplaying games with you! Join me as I play through smaller publisher games, talk design and gaming topics with friends, and explore all the ways you can be a better game master or player.
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Episodes
Friday Dec 29, 2023
Friday Dec 29, 2023
Thanks for giving my nerdy little RPG podcast a chance. This is just a little introduction to me and what you can expect from this podcast feed. Stick around, I hope you like it and find something that inspires you to go start your own game!
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Welcome to the Sundered Isles, a setting expansion for the incredible Ironsworn: Starforged roleplaying game by Shawn Tomkin & Joshua Meehan.
In this series I'm going to be playing the (as yet) unreleased rules for the Sundered Isles setting, an age of sail take on Starforged with naval exploration, pirate themes, and general discovery built into the game. It was added on a stretch goal for the massively successful Starforged Kickstarter and is slated to be crowdfunded sometime in early 2024.
In episode 0 we talk about the basics of the system, Choose Our Truths to create the setting of our Sundered Isles game, and create our main character - Dyne, the young Merchant Sorcerer.
This episode is completely optional, but if you want to hear how Ironsworn games get started, I hope it's helpful and entertaining! (spoiler: we get a monkey companion, so ... pretty great)
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
Salt Marsh from TabletopAudio.com
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
The series begins in earnest! Dyne Aloma and his crew of the Venture are called upon to aid The Morien and Eldarian Resistances on the isle of Isto Mavana against the Kyrody Dominion arriving to claim the island after their victory in a generations long war... However, these islands far out in the Reaches will not fall easily, and the first punch in a long fight is thrown. All the while, Dyne looks for ways to visit the sky isle where his Mystic Trial awaits...
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
High Seas Pursuit from TabletopAudio.com
Trireme from TabletopAudio.com
Explosion sound effect from Freesound.org
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
Tuesday Jan 02, 2024
After the successful strike against one of the three Kyrodi battleships to procure medicine for the Eldarian Remnants on Isto Mavana, the crews decide it's time to find a new home for the resistance. Dyne takes his crew Laolo & Ephraim to the nearby island of Gamadar, half-torn into the sky a few leagues above during the Cataclysm. The expedition encounters some nasty local flora and one of the crew is in danger.
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
Floating Market from TabletopAudio.com
Jungle Ruins from TabletopAudio.com
Starforged Fray from TabletopAudio.com
Game Show Quiz Sound Effect obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Perspective Checks, the new take on the DMs After Dark discussion show Modified Rolls!
In this series, I will be interviewing friends and folks from the hobby about something they like to think about when it comes to this wonderful world of tabletop RPGs, and what better way than to start with one of the first people to ever introduce me to the world of D&D, Troy Bliss!
You know Troy from the DMs After Dark, our Team Chaos wacky character loving ginger half of Blissbot, and he joins me to talk about something appropriately self-reflective - Why Players Have a "Type" and the usefulness of Tropes in RPGs. Troy has always been an incredibly hard worker, pushing his body and mind to their limits, and has recently gone back to school for more Psychology, so this kind of deep thinking about why we play what we play is something that he is clearly passionate about.
Hopefully you enjoy what you hear, and hopefully it makes you think about your own type or style. Comment or email with what you think your "Type" of PC is, we'd love to hear from you!
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
Tuesday Jan 16, 2024
Dyne, Laolo, and Ephraim return to Isto Mavana to seek medical attention for the puppet vine sprouting from Ephraim's arm. After an unfortunate surgery, the Resistance decides that the island explored by the crew of the Venture is the most promising, and they must return. This time, however, Dyne and friends are tasked with exploring the skyward half of the island floating above the oceans nearby, where more dangers await them than just flora and fauna.
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
Distilled Tropical from TabletopAudio.com
Mushroom Forest from TabletopAudio.com
Puzzle Dungeon from TabletopAudio.com
Shaman's Hollow from TabletopAudio.com
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
Welcome to the first episode of Mining Media, a short brainstorming style series that will come out every 3rd Tuesday of the month where I discuss a book, TV series, movie, video game, or any other kind of media I've been binging and think about what kind of inspiration and ideas you can take from it to use at your table and better your gaming experience.
This first episode dives into John Gwynne's The Faithful and the Fallen book series. It's generally low-fantasy and skirts the edges of grimdark, with plenty of battles, violence, and classic fantasy tropes worn proudly on its chain shirt. It subverts some tropes, leans into others, but reads very relatable to tabletop RPG campaigns, which I think makes it a great series to talk about mining ideas from.
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Rain, Book And Cup Of Tea by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space https://escp-music.bandcamp.com
Monday Jan 29, 2024
Monday Jan 29, 2024
It's the 5th Tuesday of the month which means we're doing something special, and that means it's time to release One Last Quest, a one page RPG that allows you to bring back some of your favorite PCs of campaigns past and play them in their elderly retired years. However, a loose thread or problem arises that forces them to put down the shuffleboard and dust off the old heroics one more time.
Download at https://RenePlaysGames.itch.io/One-Last-Quest
It's a hack 'n' mash of the popular rules lite RPG Lasers & Feelings by the incredible John Harper (Blades in the Dark, Agon) with a sprinkling of some All Outta Bubblegum by Michael Sullivan & Jeffrey Grant.
Hopefully you enjoy and you give it a shot with your group, reliving some of your favorite characters from over the years.
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Elliot Kings, Riggs - Paper Walls (with Mykyl) [NCS Release] Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds Free Download/Stream: http://ncs.io/PaperWalls Watch: http://ncs.lnk.to/PaperWallsAT/youtube
Arcando - In My Head (feat. Britt Lari) [NCS Release]Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds Free Download/Stream: http://NCS.io/InMyHead
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
Dyne unintentionally initiates his first Mystic Trial - the Trial of the Storm, and makes some mistakes (and a bit of a mess) before he gets a handle on his powers. However, he comes out the other side with a little more control and a lot more to do, both in his own journey to master his sorcery and the resistance against the Kyrody Dominion.
Pre-order Starforged physical books or get it digital from Modiphius!
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | X/Twitter | Threads | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
Ancient Beacon from TabletopAudio.com
Lush World from TabletopAudio.com
Starforged Fray from TabletopAudio.com
The Voyage Begins from TabletopAudio.com
Designed Lightning 2 & Record Scratch from ZapSplat.com
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with a friend in the tabletop roleplaying game world and discuss a topic of their choice!
For this episode I was joined by artist, video game streamer, and long-time home party member of Rene's - Matt Raso. Matt is the graphic designer behind both the DMs After Dark and Rene Plays Games logos, and you can find his art on Instagram and game streams on Twitch. Matt is a big fan of the grimdark genre from Berserk! to Souls games, and really has a great penchant for bringing emotionally charged characters to the gaming table. We discuss hallmarks of the grimdark genre, setting elements, and why some of the most important moments in these stories are the little wins, the faint rays of hope, and the attachments made in a world so quick to tear you down.
Hopefully you enjoy that chat and get some ideas for your own games!
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands