Rene Plays Games

[Bonus] Call of Cthulhu | Mask of Desire Valentine's One-Shot

Not every bonus episode has to be on a 5th Tuesday, holidays are good reason, too, right?
 
In this bonus one-shot, Rene ropes his wife Lynn into her first foray with Call of Cthulhu in a one-on-one scenario from the Does Love Forgive? collection.
 
Set in 1930s New York City amidst the bustling jazz scene, the scenario features a love triangle and questions just how far you'd go to achieve your goals. As Lynn's first dip into the system, it goes pretty off the rails in pretty fun ways!
 
As mentioned, one of the DMs After Dark, Christian, is a published Call of Cthulhu scenario writer. If you want to check out his stuff, go get The Night Mother's Moon!
 
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
 
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
Bugablue Music from Pixabay
Podcast Jazz Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay
Autumn Leaves Falling Again by Trygve Larsen from Pixabay
Covert Ops from Tabletop Audio
Infiltration from Tabletop Audio
Investigator's Office from Tabletop Audio
Noir Procedural from Tabletop Audio

Ironsworn: Sundered Isles | Episode 5 - Trouble on Isto Mavana

Dyne & crew wait out the night on the island of Gamadar, afraid of being spotted by the Dominion sky ship that flew out to the Cynosure Society research station after Dyne's Trial of the Storm. The night does not go peacefully, and their delay in returning to Isto Mavana does not help their cause either - all villagers are being tested for sorcerous potential - and it only gets worse...
 
Pre-order Starforged physical books or get it digital from Modiphius!
 
Go learn more about everything Ironsworn and get your solo gaming on!
 
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
Shaman's Hollow from TabletopAudio.com
Escape the Shadow from TabletopAudio.com
Investigator's Office from TabletopAudio.com

Mining Media | Sea of Stars

Welcome to this month's Mining Media where I help you think about ideas from other forms of entertainment that can elevate your tabletop RPG experience. In this episode we're talking about Sabotage Studio's retro JRPG inspired Sea of Stars - a love letter to the 90s/early 2000s 16-bit JRPGs of my youth.
 
The game itself is a beautiful game with very evocative locations and, most importantly for this episode, interesting combat mechanics that I think would work to spice up your RPG's combats in very cool ways. The main takeaways from this episode are to include mini-puzzle like conditions to be achieved by your PCs mid-fight in order to mitigate (or altogether stop) a powerful special attack from going off, as well as encouraging teamwork combos in battle through connections made between PCs in or out of combat.
 
I forgot to mention another great bit of Fabula Ultima's combat mechanics that would work well for that telegraph/countdown to special attack is their option to take the Objective action and work toward a clock that would change the battle. It is generally used for more "end the conflict overall" type of actions, but could be scaled back potentially for this kind of use.
 
Games Mentioned in this Episode:
Fabula Ultima TTJRPG | BREAK! RPG
 
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
 
Music in the Episode:
Lucid Dreaming by | e s c p | https://www.escp.space https://escp-music.bandcamp.com

[Bonus] Leap Year REAP Year One-Shot

More bonus episodes because we get an extra day for the leap year, why not an extra episode?
 
In this episode I play REAP by Gila RPGs (aka Spencer Campbell) - a soulslike solo RPG and companion game to RUNE, where you take on the role of a Reaper - a necromancer wandering the realms of the dying world Obron, harvesting souls from the evil horrors that plague the denizens of their domains and helping the world find peace in its end.
 
The mechanics are super fun and easy to learn, but the game honors its source material - it is not easy! You constantly have to deal with your resource management, enemy tactics, and luck of the dice to get you through any fight. I had a great time playing it and loved the tactile appeal of the game, which doesn't translate super well into audio, but I strongly recommend you go check out REAP and RUNE (which I believe still has a free quickstart rules guide so you can test it out), and begin your reaper's journey!
 
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
 
Music in the Episode:
Court of the Count from Tabletop Audio
Lord of Bones from Tabletop Audio
Goblin Ambush from Tabletop Audio
Witch Mountain from Tabletop Audio
Music Rewind 3 Sound Effect from ZapSplat.com

Ironsworn: Sundered Isles | Episode 6 - Escape from Vega's Cave

Dyne is taken prisoner by Captain Vega and brought to a secret sea cave the Kyrody sailor has been stockpiling equipment in, as well as where he is experimenting with sky iron. An escape is attempted, but this episode keeps riding the dice luck of the previous, and things just keep getting worse...
 
You can sign up to be notified when Sundered Isles goes live on Kickstarter and/or pre-order Starforged physical books or get it digital from Modiphius!
 
Go learn more about everything Ironsworn and get your solo gaming on!
 
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
Covert Ops from TabletopAudio.com
Drowned Sailors from TabletopAudio.com
Sunken Temple from TabletopAudio.com

Perspective Checks | Liz Greene - Geek Therapy

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!
 
This time Rene is joined once again by Troy from the DMs After Dark to talk with Liz Greene, LMHC MFT TGM/DM GT, a licensed Geek Therapist who uses games and popular media in her sessions! We discuss games as a community, using characters as buffers to experiences, practicing social skills, and putting consequences into perspective, and more.
 
Please check out these amazing resources and tell us about experiences at the table you've had that have helped you in hard times!
 
You can find Liz at Serenity Coaching & Counseling, Psychology Today, and find other geek therapists in your area at Geek Therapeutics.
 
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
 
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Ironsworn: Sundered Isles | Episode 7 - The Trial of the Sea

Dyne is dragged out to sea after swearing an iron vow on the sky iron shard in Vega's Cave. The flooding recesses and pulls all of Captain Vega's Kyrody sailors out to a watery grave, but Dyne finds himself on a dry circle of sea floor at the bottom of a maelstrom - a shipwreck graveyard... What awaits him for his Trial of the Sea?
 
Go check out the sample guidebook and back Sundered Isles on Kickstarter!
Go learn more about everything Ironsworn and get your solo gaming on!
 
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
Trireme from TabletopAudio.com
High Seas Pursuit from TabletopAudio.com
Sunken Temple from TabletopAudio.com

Mining Media | Delicious In Dungeon

Welcome to another Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences. In this episode we're talking about Delicious In Dungeon - a manga turned anime currently streaming on Netflix about a group of adventurers delving a massive dungeon and eating the monsters they encounter along the way!
 
This show is so obviously inspired by traditional TTRPGs from decades past, but does such an incredible job of environmental storytelling through meticulously designing each level of the titular Dungeon to portray a well thought out, functioning ecosystem. As a biologist/ecologist by day, this show is inspiring in its devotion to depicting believable dungeon ecology that helps tell a cohesive story and makes for much more interesting monsters/encounters.
 
So the next time you're prepping (as a GM) or exploring (as a player) a dungeon, take the time to think about how every creature here is carving out its place in the food web/ecosystem, what resources are abundant or scarce and how that affects survival or behaviors in the nearby region, and ask questions about how you can use them to your advantage!
 
If you want to read it, here's Sage Latorra's A 16 HP Dragon article!
 
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
 
Music in the Episode:
Music by Patrick A. from Pixabay

[Bonus] The Substratum Protocol Preview

The Substratum Protocol is a scientific initiative to explore and investigate an unnatural, cosmic portal that has appeared at the very center of the Earth's core. At the time of its arrival, a massive fracture split the planet and swallowed entire cities. The first scientists to attempt any form of data analysis from signals emitted by the portal struggled with their sanity afterwards. Using patented DSPT Mk II exo-suits, a team of scientists will descend into the Fracture and travel to the portal to close it before things get even worse...
 
This game is WILD! Using the Hints & Hijinx engine which pits *depreciating* step dice skill rolls against a deck of playing cards, stress mechanics which aid understanding the unfathomable at the expense of your die results, and 10 levels of increasingly trippy areas to explore, this game is a blast. I can't wait to bring it to a table and play with others!
 
Go check out The Substratum Protocol now on Backerkit and keep up with more Pandion Games projects in the future!
 
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
Dark Continent from TabletopAudio.com
Dying World from TabletopAudio.com
Gravity from TabletopAudio.com
Infernal Machine from TabletopAudio.com
Protean Fields from TabletopAudio.com
Testing Chamber from TabletopAudio.com
Starforged Vault from TabletopAudio.com

[Bonus] Mining Media | Baldur's Gate 3

Has anyone heard of this obscure CRPG called Baldur's Gate 3? Apparently there have been 2 others, but let me tell you something... they're pretty neat for getting tabletop RPG ideas!
 
Happy April Fool's, ya nerds, and I'm super grateful you're all listening. Thanks, hope you chuckled, and if you do play Baldur's Gate 3 (you should), send me your favorite character builds!
 
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | Threads | DMs After Dark
email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com
 
Music in the Episode:
Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands