Rene Plays Games

Colostle | Dungeons Episode 7 - No Going Back Now

Welcome back for another episode of Colostle - Dungeons!
 
Sybil wants to return to Oubliette to have her new unique rookstone appraised, but she didn't get here alone, so she continues deeper into the Dungeons with Zorn and the rookling  to find the lost rooklings and possibly a Rookling Forge.
 
Sybil finds a way back to the surface, but with too many questions left unanswered, she stays in the Dungeons and finds yet another major labyrinth...
 
Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page!
 

Midnight Melodies | One-Player One-Shot

We're a few days late, but if it means anything to you, dear listener, it made me haul a lot of my music equipment up to my office and I am definitely going to try and do more original music for my episodes now!
 
Welcome to another one-player one-shot where I play games I have been dying to get to the table all by myself. This time it's another by one of my favorite designers in the TTRPG community, Midnight Melodies by Cezar Capacle.
 
In Midnight Melodies, you play as a jazz pianist confronted by the Grim Reaper themself after a night out playing, but there's a catch - you're immune to their touch. Instead, they recruit you for the Department of Unauthorized Deaths to investigate strange, unsanctioned deaths while the big Death works out what to do with you. Now, every now and again, a name will appear in the tip jar at the end of the night, and you must get to the bottom of the unnatural death.
 
In this episode I play Riley Hawkins, member of the big jazz band The Eclipse, as he goes unauthorized death detective on the case of an academic counselor, Bradley Keats. It gets wild. 
 
Go get Cezar's games, they're all bangers, you can't go wrong!
 

Colostle | Dungeons Episode 6 - Whispers of Rookling & Stone

Welcome back for another episode of Colostle - Dungeons!
 
Sybil and the Rookling are joined by the traveling Bastion monk, Zorn, who is searching for something known as a Rookling Forge after many of the rooklings from his monastery have left to destinations unknown. When their expedition hits a dead end, they are waylaid by a Lichen Rook and rush away only to find that Sybil's Whisperstone is pulling her somewhere. Remembering her strange experience with a Spectral Rook, she follows it into a labyrinth where she finds another unique rookstone as well as more clues about the Spectral Rooks...
 
Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page!
 

Perspective Checks | Craig Hatler - Learning & Teaching RPGs

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!
 
This month's episode is with Craig Hatler (a.k.a. Tezrak the Impslayer most places on the internet), a game designer and educator who came on to talk about the importance of a game's communication and resources when sitting down to learn how to play, run the game, or even for designers before it goes out. We talk about his game Shadowlight & Personae, a genre-agnostic neutral system aiming to be able to emulate any type of story, and the work he's done to improve his layout, resources, and more.
 
This episode bounces around a lot, but we primarily stick to the topic of "how can we, as designers or players engaging with a game, ensure that the rules and mechanics are effectively spelled out so we can just get right to the gameplay." Even as an admitted hoarder of TTRPGs, the act of sitting down to read a rulebook isn't the most exciting thing, I'd rather be reading an actual book to get ideas going, I just need the game book to explain how to do the thing. 
 
We talk about Daggerheart's cards, pre-generated character sheets, player resource sheets, the read-along rules from For the Queen, and more to lower your game's barrier to learning!
 

Colostle | Dungeons Episode 5 - Spectral Chains & Fostles

Welcome back to the new series of Colostle - Dungeons!
 
Sybil ventures out of the hanging city of Oubliette with her ice rookling in tow to attempt to find her way back to the surface. The two have more time to appreciate the immensity of the subterranean world and its architecture, but hear a cry for help while investigating a chained rook husk. The find a stranger bound with spectral chains, but before they can help, he is pulled away into the darkness below. When Sybil and the rookling give chase, they find an archaeological dig site for a Fostle, and brave the poisonous fumes to go in and rescue this stranger.
 
Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page!
 

[Bonus] Halloween Star Crossed

Bonus Halloween day episode release and it's one we teased wayyyy back in February in our Valentine's Day bonus episode! I'm joined by my wife Lynn to play another game of Star Crossed (and in digital) by Alex Roberts, published by the wonderful Bully Pulpit Games, but this time we're not leaning hard into the expected romance tropes or characters, we're getting spooky! (spoiler: it is not, in fact, spooky).
 
In this Halloween-flavored game of forbidden love, we take on the roles of a House and the Ghost that really, really wants to haunt it, but they really, really can't.
 
Neither of us could have ever expected where this episode was going to go, but in the end, I think it comes together quite nicely. Also, Rene's a sucker for a happy ending, so... that tower's bound to fall.
 

Spellbook | One-Player One-Shot

Can't forget to do a solo one-shot for spooky month, so here is my one-player one-shot experience of Spellbook by DValeris a.k.a. Edaureen Muhamad Nor! This game is based on a familiar game from last year's holiday one-shots, Bucket Of Bolts by Jason Price and uses the Lost & Found SRD to simulate the life of a sentient spellbook that is past down through the hands of witches over three Acts. It was a very fun session and I fully admit I fall hard into stereotypical Rene tropes (sorry not sorry).
 
Definitely give this and more of Edaureen's games a look!
 
Also, shout out and check out friend of the show C.R. Rowenson's new LitRPG book Spawn Point, Book 1 of the New Eternity series! And if you want to watch me and some other creators play a short TTRPG series in that world, check out Clark's YouTube channel - The Magic Engineer!
 

Colostle | Dungeons Episode 4 - The Hanging City of Oubliette

Welcome back to the new series of Colostle - Dungeons!
 
In episode 4, new friend Thorug guides Sybil and the Rooklings to the capital of the Dungeons - the Hanging City of Oubliette! This incredible city hangs from the top of an enormous cavern, lit up in all different colors in a perpetual nightlife. Run by four clans (Cups, Rings, Keys, and Shards), the city is both powerful and dangerous. What will Sybil find in Oubliette?
 
Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page!
 

Perspective Checks | Characters, Cosplay, and Don't Kill My Character with Kate the Great

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!
 
This month's episode is with Kate the Great Cosplays talking about the many, many angles she approaches the TTRPG scene through. Not only a cosplay event coordinator including TTRPG cosplay photo sessions and meet-ups, but an actual play performer and producer of the Don't Kill My Character stream, Kate does a lot in the games world! 
 
Personally, I couldn't agree more with her personal motto on games: "We never grow out of our need to play." Too true!
 
The conversation wanders throughout the episode, but Kate shines when talking about the meaningful choices of making a character, how to really inhabit them in play, through conscious choices and ongoing growth like curating music playlists, thinking about their physicality, outfits, etc. If you like Kate's vibes, I highly recommend the Don't Kill My Character backlog of videos on their YouTube and hopping into their live streams!
 

[Bonus] The Witch Is Dead

It's spooky month 2025, and that means bonus episodes! They can be Halloween-y, generally spooky, or related to common tropes of the season, but this year it's kicking off with a one-shot of The Witch Is Dead by the incomparable Grant Howitt! 
 
The Witch Is Dead is a one-page RPG by the master of the one-pager about a kind and good witch who is brutally and unfairly MURDERED by a witch-hunter! Luckily, you are the cute woodland animals this wonderful witch taught some spells, and she told you to avenge her death and bring her killer's eyes to her body within one week so she may be resurrected. Will our chaotic crew be able to pull it off?!
 
Go get Grant's excellent games, support his Patreon, and if you're feeling really creative, he's currently hosting the One Hundred One Page Games Jam over on itch, where you can combine two of his absurd one-page RPGs into one game and submit it for folks to play! So do it!
 

Colostle | Dungeons Episode 3 - Nowhere To Go But Down...

Welcome back to the new series of Colostle - Dungeons!
 
In episode 3, Sybil has escaped the major labyrinth of the Cistern only to find herself forced to explore further down into the Dungeons, which turn out to be much more interesting than expected. Incredible architecture and mechanisms are in place from who knows when - a whole world beneath the surface of the Roomlands... But before she can do much investigating, one of her new rookling friends wanders into another labyrinth!
 
Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page!
 

The Librarian's Apprentice | One-Player One-Shot

It's time for another one-player one-shot!
 
The Librarian's Apprentice is a solo game I've had near the top of my list to play for a LONG time, and it's a shame it's taken me so long to get this to the table. This is a game by friend of the channel Daniel Bronson-Lowe, a.k.a. Almost Bedtime Theater who you may remember from the Tabletop Tutorial episode of i'm sorry did you say street magic? where we built a city within this game's infinite library together on this podcast!
 
This is a game about playing a Librarian-to-be in an infinite library and working your way through its halls to find documents and uncover truths that will prove you worthy of the title Librarian. It is full of mystery, amazing oracles, prompts, and is so easy to play thanks to its elegant design. Not only that, the presentation of this game is so beautiful, coming in a package that unfolds into trifold pamphlets with bookmark character sheets, a library card, and the recently published Song of the Scryptwyrm expansion mystery adds even more amazing art through little hidden details and messages in the text. I can't recommend this game enough.
 
For this one-player one-shot, we follow apprentice librarian Corbyn on his first document retrieval assignment, slowly uncovering information about the strange inhabitants of the library known as the gnosiphages, a.k.a. booklickers.
 

Mining Media | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an incredible new game by French developers Sandfall Interactive, and it is AMAZING. This is not a light lift for you TTRPG folks who may want to emulate the game at the table, but that doesn't mean there isn't a LOT for you to mine for your own games without having to try and replicate this masterpiece.
 
Take home notes:
Asymmetric design is awesome, and each character feeling like they're doing something unique and totally different is a great way to keep things interesting while finding combos and letting people have an experience that matches their preferred style of game while at the same table.
Flawed characters are better than "good ones," because flaws give your characters things to challenge, overcome, or fall into to make their triumph over a struggle that much better.
Slow. Drip. Knowledge to pace decision making and draw parallels or crossroads for certain characters based on information learned about the wider world or story of your campaign. This makes conflict both external and internal to the characters and resonates more than just "wow that was a tough combat!"
Monoco is the best, you won't convince me otherwise.
 
Oh and good news, the team at Sandfall has already said that Expedition 33 is only one of the many stories they want to tell within the greater concept of Clair Obscur. THAT'S EXCITING!
 

Colostle | Dungeons Episode 2 - The Cistern

Welcome back to the new series of Colostle - Dungeons!
 
In episode 2, we pick up with our main character Sybil as she emerges from the water deep below the surface where she fell at the end of episode 1. As she gets her bearings, she realizes she is in an ancient, underground mechanism with no way back to the surface, so the only way out is through. Luckily (or not), she rescues a small Rookling friend to join her as they navigate the major labyrinth known as The Cistern.
 
Learn more about Colostle and the Dungeons supplement here! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page!
 

Perspective Checks | Willow (The RPG Goblin) - Finding The Right TTRPG For You

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!
 
There are a lot of tabletop roleplaying ganes, and there is an almost 100% chance you will never sit down and play them all, and even if you could, there would be a a lot of games you probably wouldn't enjoy. This month's episode is a chat with Willow, a.k.a. The RPG Goblin (which has to be one of the best internet user handles) all about finding the right game for you. Maybe you've only played D&D, maybe you've heard of Daggerheart from all the Critical Role hype, maybe you've even heard of some indie darlings like Blades in the Dark or Apocalypse World, but until you dip your toe in or peel back the curtain and look, you may not know what kind of game fits your style of playing/GMing the best until you read it/sit down and play it!
 
We also go over things like how to introduce folks to new games through one-page RPGs, silly one-shots, going very vibes-heavy on selling a game with a specific touchstone so people come in ready to harness the stylistic expectations and worry less about the mechanics and learning a new system, and more.
 
Willow is great, you should definitely check out her very infectious enthusiasm talking about TTRPGs and mechanics she's exploring on all her social media pages: Linktr.ee / RPG Goblin Podcast / YouTube 
 

Colostle | Dungeons Episode 1 - Falling In

100 Episodes! That's pretty neat, and it feels right to go back to the very first series I ever played solo for a podcast - the incredibly wonderful Colostle by Nich Angell!
 
In this series, we'll be playing a whole new character, so you don't have to have listened to my previous Colostle series on the DMs After Dark podcast feed, and I'll be going through all of the character creation, rules, and mechanics so new listeners can learn about the game through this series.
 
However, we aren't going to be playing the base game of Colostle anymore, we will be playing in the Dungeons supplement that recently came out! If you like all of the new additions and ideas constantly being added to the world of Colostle, I highly recommend checking out Nich's Patreon page!
 

Mining Media | Dungeon Crawler Carl

Welcome back to Mining Media where we turn your binging into better TTRPG experiences by telling the next episode or next book "You will not break me," and soldiering on anyway because goddamnit, Donut, someone's gotta try and save all these ideas.
 
This month we're talking about the absurdly popular (and deserving) LitRPG book series Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. These books follow Carl and his ex-girlfriend's prize show champion cat Donut into a televised level-0 funnel on the newest season of Dungeon Crawler World, a popular galactic game show where survivors fight through 18 levels of awful dungeon in hopes of making it out some kind of alive.
 
This series is 1) hilarious, 2) way better than it has any right being, and 3) somehow has you crying over the most insanely out-of-pocket characters in truly deranged dungeon level concepts, but it's full of great ideas, too! And it's the 2nd book series we've done on Mining Media that is actually getting a TTRPG!
 
I've been sick, so this is all you're getting for a description this week. Listen to the episode and let me know if you think I missed anything good to use at the gaming table!
 

BOW | One-Player One-Shot

Let's do another one-player one-shot!
 
This time it's BOW by the design duo (and team at) Hatchlings Games!
 
BOW is a solo journaling game that uses the Carta SRD by Peach Garden Games, much like Hatchlings' other solo game Dragon Dowser (which you can hear me play in the backlog!). In BOW, you play a Praeloran diver going out in an annual competition known as The Shoaling, a grueling sailing race between strong candidates on the hunt for relics to bring back to their city and make it to their marker and back first. 
 
In this one-shot, I play the underdog Dominic Eisenia, a short, underdeveloped youth going out for the Shoaling against much more physically capable rivals, but he has an edge in his cleverness and determination. Can he make it to his Marker and find any interesting relics? Will Dominic be crowned champion of this year's Shoaling?!
 

Two-Hand Path | One-Player One-Shot

Time for another one-player one-shot!
 
This is Two-Hand Path, a modern roll-and-write dungeon crawler by Mikey Hamm, designer of Slugblaster. In Two-Hand Path you play a mage searching the cursed ruins of a post-fall city for loot and power after a supernatural war left everything destroyed. 
 
The mechanics use Yahtzee-style combinations with a full set of polyhedral dice, sending you through very simple but deadly dungeons with time pressure and limited HP before you "surge," after which every roll is a gamble for points and power. 
 
The character sheet is just your two hands (or a drawing of two hands, if you're a coward) which you'll cover in tattoos, rings, scars, and more as you shape your spells and unleash your magic against the remnants of the world.
 
It's. Awesome. Get Two-Hand Path here.
 

Sundered Isles Season 2 | Episode 14 - Finale

Welcome to the finale of the Heart of the Dominion, season 2 of my Ironsworn: Sundered Isles series. 
 
Cassidy, Leigh, and the Captain continue to trek toward the center of the cursed Razor Isle at the heart of the Kyrody Dominion's myriad capital, with the Captain experiencing flashbacks to life in this ruined city's heyday. When they reach the three towering iron pillars at the city's center, everything falls apart at once.
 
Learn more about Ironsworn here.