Informações:
Sinopse
GM/DM discussions on topics related to running tabletop games. Each episode is a 30-45 minute conversation about one specific topic chosen by rolling 1d10 on a table of topics. Roll for Topic's regular cohosts are Andy Rau and Chris Salzman. If you or your GM is interested in being a guest, drop us a line!
Episódios
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Episode 187 – Antarctic Cthulhu Weekend After-action Report
12/02/2026 Duração: 34minAndy’s back from his weekend GMing an Antarctic Cthulhu campaign, and Chris has questions! Topics covered include the value of creating special game events like this, the challenge of fighting a long campaign into a short weekend, and more.
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Episode 186 – What Games Do You Bring on Trips?
29/01/2026 Duração: 16minChris is heading off on a work trip, so discussion turns to which RPGs or board games you squeeze into your suitcase when traveling. With snow days and work trips imposing on our schedules, it’s a short episode–but we’ll be back next episode with a detailed breakdown of Andy’s epic Arkham Horror RPG weekend.
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Episode 185 – Catch up
15/01/2026 Duração: 44minAndy and Chris have a lot to talk about! They discuss Splatbook, how the build-a-dungeon/play-a-dungeon went, the worst part of the D&D ruleset, Shadowdark, and Andy’s upcoming weekend game in a secluded cottage.
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Episode 184 – Play-a-Dungeon 2025: Kaiju vs. Theme Park Employees
01/01/2026 Duração: 01h31minIt’s time to play this year’s “Build-a-Dungeon”! Chris GMs a party of five intrepid amusement park employees as they try to save the fair from a rampaging kaiju. This is part of our annual tradition wherein we create an adventure collaboratively in one episode and play it in the next. For the making of this … Continue reading "Episode 184 – Play-a-Dungeon 2025: Kaiju vs. Theme Park Employees"
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Episode 183: Build-a-Dungeon 2025
18/12/2025 Duração: 01h31minThis is part 1 of our 2 part Build-A-Dungeon Play-a-Dungeon special for 2025! Chris and Andy are joined, yet again, by John Corey and Kyle Latino! In this episode we brainstorm and build out a one shot adventure that Chris will run in the following episode.
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Episode 182: Stranger Things, Doom, and One Shot Systems
04/12/2025 Duração: 27minChris tries to get Andy to watch the new season of Stranger Things. Andy talks about Doom’s brilliance. Then they talk about simple systems for running one shots.
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Episode 181 – Netcrawl, Blades, and 13th Age, Oh My!
20/11/2025 Duração: 26minEvery TTRPG Kickstarter from the last few years seemed to fulfill this month, so Andy and Chris take an episode to go through the piles of shiny new roleplaying games they’ve acquired recently. Along the way they discuss the impact of strong authorial voices in RPG books and plot to ensnare the author of Netcrawl.
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180: How to be a good player
06/11/2025 Duração: 28minChris has found himself playing in two campaigns so Andy and Chris talk about how he can be the best player he can be!
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Episode 179 – Daggerheart, Draw Steel, and the Post-OGL Landscape
23/10/2025 Duração: 28minChris and Andy take a break from their usual format and have an open discussion about Chris’ new Daggerheart game, and what has their attention now that a wave of post-OGL D&D-alikes are finally arriving. As a bonus, we learn about the corporate merch with which Chris bedecks himself.
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Episode 178 – Stranger Things and Aliens
09/10/2025 Duração: 29minAndy and Chris talk about Stranger Things and then an issue that Andy had at the table with players and their pregen characters.
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Episode 177 – RPG Trivia from RfT Con 2025
25/09/2025 Duração: 32minEvery year, we host a game convention in Ann Arbor. And every year, a highlight of the con is our obscure RPG trivia contest! This is the live recording of RfT Con 2025’s trivia segment. How does your RPG trivia knowledge stack up?
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Episode 176 – Autumn GM Plans and Convention Prep
11/09/2025 Duração: 19minChris and Andy are busy planning RfT Con, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t brainstorming new campaigns they want to run. In this short pre-convention episode, they chat about the campaigns they’re gearing up to run this autumn/winter.
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Episode 175 – How Do You Run a Game in Two Hours or Less? (with Garrett Douglas)
28/08/2025 Duração: 33minWe revisit one of our earliest topics, this time with guest Garrett Douglas, creator of Wayne Scotting’s Guide to the Very Small Folk! Garrett shares insight from the many short-duration game sessions he’s run, but not before we chat Ars Magica and share our favorite Chicagoland game stores. Show notes
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Episode 174 – Theater and Gaming with Andy Jones
14/08/2025 Duração: 35minChris is joined by guest GM Andy Jones to talk about the intersection between gaming and theater and how good kids these days have it with being able to talk openly about their hobbies.
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Episode 173 – Mechs with Toby Shearman
31/07/2025 Duração: 54minToby’s going to run a game at RfT Con 2025 about mechs! He comes on to talk through some design ideas and Andy and Chris get very excited about mechs!
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Episode 172 – D&D on the Beach, Blue Prince, and The Gunslinger
17/07/2025 Duração: 47minChris wants to pitch Andy on Blue Prince, but decides he should probably talk about some other stuff too.
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Episode 171 – The Kids Are Alright
03/07/2025 Duração: 38minChris shares the experience of watching his young daughter and her friends play D&D for the first time. What can jaded adult GMs learn from watching kids hack their way through a D&D adventure? And in what is becoming our regular book discussion segment, Chris and Andy discuss the gaming appeal of Stephen King’s The … Continue reading "Episode 171 – The Kids Are Alright"
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Episode 170 – How Do You Run a One-shot for Non-gamers?
19/06/2025 Duração: 39minAndy seeks advice about an upcoming game for a group of newbie players. But not before our hosts talk books, Andy excitedly describes his first trip to a swamp, and Chris reveals that his young daughter is about to make her first foray into TTRPGs.
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Episode 169 – I Know a Guy and Changing Rules
05/06/2025 Duração: 29minAndy and Chris are both about to go on trips so they freewheel a conversation about buying a suit and changing the system for a currently running campaign.
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Episode 168 – Do You Replay TTRPG Scenes That Go Wrong?
22/05/2025 Duração: 42minWould you ever call for a “re-do” of a scene or encounter that didn’t go as planned? In what situations might that make sense? And are there better ways to “roll with” an unwelcome development in the game? Chris and Andy discuss, along with talk about game pacing and Andy’s million-dollar idea for a mystery … Continue reading "Episode 168 – Do You Replay TTRPG Scenes That Go Wrong?"