roleplaying games — Content

A Tantalizing Set of Deadly Tables? Dungeon Crawl Classics Core Rulebook Review

There’s a 2.5% chance you get a papercut reading this review: A look at the Dungeon Crawl Classics Core Rulebook from Goodman Games

BlogChris RenshawSeptember 12, 2023dnd, dungeons and dragons, dnd5e, dungeon crawl classics, goodman games, dcc rpg, ttrpg, rpg, roleplaying games, role playing gameComment

Is this really the best solution? Monsters of the Multiverse Review (D&D5e)

Does this keep you from bringing two tons of books to game night? Find out in Chris’ review of “Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse”, a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Supplement from Wizards of the Coast

BlogChris RenshawAugust 12, 2022dnd, dnd5e, dungeons and dragons, wizards of the coast, dungeons & dragons, d&d5e, rpgs, roleplaying gamesComment

Blessing or a Curse? A Review of Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep (D&D5e)

BlogChris RenshawMay 20, 2022d&d, critical role, dungeons & dragons, dungeons and dragons, dnd, dnd5e, d&d5e, wizards of the coast, roleplaying games, rpgs, rpgComment

Tabletop Games Crowdfunding Roundup - April 13th, 2022

It was really only a matter of time before I had to change the title to replace "Kickstarter" with "Crowdfunding". I really should have thought better and used Crowdfunding from the beginning. This week, we have our first Gamefound campaign to talk about, birds flocking together, a horde of the rings, and a reference to a Cards Against Humanity box. Let's get started!

BlogChris RenshawApril 13, 2022kickstarter, board games, roleplaying gamesComment

Tabletop Games Kickstarter Roundup - April 6th, 2022

This week is another random assortment of picks from me: another gaming table, some people looking to open a gaming store, a non-werewolf game from Bezier, wallet-sized barnyard fun, and a small party D&D5e compatible adventure. Let's jump right in!

BlogChris RenshawApril 6, 2022kickstarter, board games, roleplaying games, bezier gamesComment

Tabletop Games Kickstarter Roundup - March 30th, 2022

Another week, another set of Kickstarters: AR gaming, Dead by Daylight and another custom gaming table!

BlogChris RenshawMarch 30, 2022kickstarter, dead by daylight, miniatures, privateer press, board games, roleplaying gamesComment

The “Euro” Game of RPGs - A Review of Pathfinder Second Edition

Chris takes a look at the Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook from Paizo and gives his opinion on this major role playing system.

BlogChris RenshawJuly 22, 2020pathfinder, pathfinder 2e, rpg, roleplaying games, paizoComment

Roll Your Dice & Drop The Mics! A Review of Swordsfall: The Summit of Kings

Chris reviews The Summit of Kings, an adventure set in the Afropunk world of Swordsfall.

BlogChris RenshawJune 12, 2020swordsfall, rpg, roleplaying gamesComment

Descent into Midnight: Gaming Better, Down Where It's Wetter (Interview with Richard Kreutz-Landry and Rich Howard)

This week, I had the opportunity to sit down with 2 creators of another Kickstarter in the Roleplaying Game (RPG) genre, Richard Kreutz-Landry and Rich Howard of Descent into Midnight (DiM). Based on the popular Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) engine, this Kickstarter still has a couple of weeks to go and is already well above its $25,000 goal.

In DiM, you play as characters in an underwater society, one that has not interacted with any type of human society. It is your responsibility to create this community and defend it from some type of threat. The exact nature of that threat can vary between games, as the game is centered around how the characters respond to these varying threats. I’ve kept an eye on the development of DiM for a while now, ever since I played in a couple of games with Richard at Acadecon a few years ago.

BlogChris RenshawFebruary 26, 2020kickstarter, rpg, roleplaying games, descent into midnightComment

Adventure Games, Cat Cafe, 2020 Look Ahead - Boards & Swords #143

First episode recorded in 2020! We talk about what we are expecting this year, then we go into lots of board game reviews such as the Adventure Games from Kosmos, Cat Cafe from Alley Cat Games, and the Pickle Rick game from Cryptozoic.

How Can I Teach Young Gamers It's Not About Winning? - Ask the Prof

Caveat: Not a real professor. I just play one on TV….if your TV is looking at my YouTube videos. Also my grandfather used to call me that when I was in college.

Now that I am back to blogging more often, its time to revisit this column. Got a question about board games, roleplaying games, comics or pop culture? Send me an email Chris@ocdcast.com or tweet me @ChrisTheProf on twitter with the #asktheprof hashtag and I may answer it in a future column.

Pulling from my archives, @BKfishen4Games asked on Twitter:

"How can I teach young gamers that it’s not all about winning?"

Brandon from the Brawling Brothers podcast (@BrawlingBros) asked:

"How do you loosen up the 'stiffs' at the table and have them fall into character?!?"

First of all, calling them stiffs is probably not helping your cause. Secondly, I totally know where Brandon is coming from. One of the first games I ran as a GM was the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG from Wizards of the Coast (basically D&D 3.5 but with Star Wars). I was trying to get a new group of friends into RPGs and as such pretty much everyone in my game had never played in a RPG before. A couple of players got into it, but there was one or two people that basically acted like we were playing Zork:

Lots of News - Boards & Swords #143 Prologue

We’ve had to reschedule some recordings for various reasons, so Episode 143 was going to be super huge (spoiler, it was huge anyways). So I decided to write a few more jokes than normal and put out a special bit to hold you over until the full up episode drops. Oh, and Collin and Cindy were there too.

Boards & Swords, PodcastsChris RenshawJanuary 28, 2020board games, RPGs, card games, roleplaying games, CMON, Fantasy Flight Games, cryptozoicComment

How Was 2019 & Reviewing Lots of Inserts - Boards & Swords #142

It's the last podcast of 2019, so how was the year? Also, we've got a stack of various board game inserts from GameFit and The Broken Token and we talk about what we think of them.

Boards & Swords, PodcastsChris RenshawJanuary 6, 2020board games, RPGs, card games, roleplaying games, CMON, Fantasy Flight Games, cryptozoicComment

Pax Unplugged 2019 Recap - Boards & Swords #141

We are back from Pax Unplugged! What board games did we see? What did we do? What didn't we do?

News

5 Minute Mystery on Kickstarter
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/5-Minute-Mystery-Up-On-Kickstarter

Romans coming to Empires of the North
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/Portal-Games-Announces-Roman-Banners-Expansion-For-Empires-of-the-North

Gloomhaven 2: More Haven, Less Gloom
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/Cephalofair-Announces-Gloomhaven-2--Frosthaven

The Purrfect Game for Chris
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/Fantasy-Flight-Announces-Barkham-Horror--The-Meddling-of-Meowlathotep-LCG-Expansion

Boards & Swords, PodcastsChris RenshawDecember 23, 2019board games, RPGs, card games, roleplaying games, CMON, Fantasy Flight Games, cryptozoicComment

Marvel Champions, Ubongo, Batman: Gotham City Chronicles - Boards & Swords #140

What's coming out/came out at Pax Unplugged? Chris gives some insight, then we go into reviews on the Marvel Champions LCG from Fantasy Flight Games, Ubongo the puzzle game from Kosmos, and the minis game Batman: Gotham City Chronicles from Monolith Games.

My Article I wrote about the failed Kickstarter Satanic Panic
https://boardsandswords.squarespace.com/blog/satanic-panic

Article about the Robotech Kickstarter mentioned on the show: https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/2/17071612/robotech-rpg-tactics-kickstarter-disaster-palladium-books