Welcome to What is Roleplay: a podcast from Beyond Cataclysm exploring the very basics of Roleplay, Role Play Games, and what it means to be part of this awesome hobby.
We will be exploring the nuts and bolts of how to play role play, with each episode themed on a particular concept or idea. Even if you know literally nothing about role play games currently, this podcast is at a level that assumes no prior knowledge.
We will have interviews with leading designers from the indie scene, and take a look into games you may have heard of, and others you haven’t heard of, but should.
Each episode ends with some short live-play examples too, to put flesh on the bones we’ve laid out earlier on.
Welcome to Episode 22 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by RPG designer and author Dan Sumption to discuss Rules Light Roleplaying Games Rules light Roleplaying Games (RPGS) are games that have a very simple rules framework so that the learning curve is nice and easy and the players are more free …
Welcome to Episode 20 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by fantasy map maker Jog Brogzin to discuss Maps What is a fantasy map maker? Someone who makes fantasy maps. Unlike a regular cartographer they’re not looking to create maps that will safely guide you to your destination – they’re not looking to …
Welcome to Episode 20 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Luke Stratton aka Limithron to discuss Pirates! Luke answers the question ‘What is a Pirate’ Dictionary definition – someone who steals things at sea Pirate is a word that has been appropriated for all types of theft Pirate has another layer of …
Welcome to Episode 19 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Dave Semark and Matthew Tyler-Jones to discuss Social Conflict Dave & Matthew tell us about how the embarked on their journey into podcasting, inspired by the Free League game Coriolis and how that lead to them building a relationship with Free League …
Welcome to Episode 18.5 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Samuel Poots for a special Narrative Worldbuilding Actual Play This is a follow up to Episode 18, where Samuel unpacked the idea of Narrative Worldbuilding. Stream here Worldbuilding is an important cornerstone of all writing and especially important when writing roleplay …
Welcome to Episode 18 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Samuel Poots to discuss Narrative Worldbuilding Worldbuilding is an important cornerstone of all writing and especially important when writing roleplay games – the process of designing an environment for the story or the game you are creating. Samuel Answers the Question …
Welcome to Episode 17 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Aviv Or and Eran Aviram to discuss teaching games Aviv & Eran’s work ‘The Crystal Heart’ and how it uniquely teaches readers to roleplay, specifically to play the Savage Worlds RPG Their use of narrative to explain how to play, based …
Welcome to Episode 16 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by John Dodd to discuss dungeons The intrigue of The Dungeon – why would someone build this, what was it for, how did it get here? You’re not supposed to be there! Maps as promises – they guarantee excitement, adventure and maybe …
Welcome to Episode 15 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Côme Martin to discuss diceless rpg Chris & Côme discuss many different Roleplaying Games that don’t use dice & explore the spectrum of games from completely controlled by fate, to the other end of the spectrum where the only narrative input …
Welcome to Episode 14 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Johan Nohr to discuss design Everyone can draw – as adults we stop being creative because we fool ourselves into thinking that we cannot do it. How the independent games scene allows people to explore new ways of designing and laying …
