Around the Hearth

Open Hearth Gaming Community

Around the Hearth features discussion on a wide range of topics relevant to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) featuring members of the Open Hearth Gaming Community. We talk games, gameplay, design, and the games being played at the Open Hearth Gaming Calendar. Our online games are free and open to all! If you'd like to join the fun, visit openhearthgaming.com for more information.

  1. Roll for Mutation: Post-Apocalyptic TTRPG History: Ep. 4 Apocalypse World

    HACE 2 DÍAS

    Roll for Mutation: Post-Apocalyptic TTRPG History: Ep. 4 Apocalypse World

    In our fourth episode of Roll for Mutation, we look at one of the most important post-apocalyptic games, Apocalypse World. We consider both the impact of PbtA and the depiction of "the Apocalypse" in AW-- and how it differs from other contemporary games. Hosts Lowell Francis and Marc Majcher cover the short but rich history of AW and its long tail. We talk about what Apocalypse World is, where it fits in gaming history, our experiences playing it, and our general thoughts about the game. ReferencesTabletop RPG Design in Theory and Practice at the Forge, 2001–2012: Designs and DiscussionsDesigners & Dragons Volume 4 The 2000sApocalypse World: Burned Over is kinder and much angrierThe Daily Apocalypse+1 Forward: A Podcast Powered by the ApocalypseApocalypse World Burned Over KickstarterRascal Interview with Macolm Craig For other shows like this, check out Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History. Marc Majcher is an award-winning game designer, performer, educator, director, woodworker, writer, and all-around goblin-man recently relocated from Austin, Texas to East Lansing, Michigan. You can find their RPGs and LARPs inspired by the works of Philip K. Dick, a bird apocalypse, eldritch startup cults, viral videos, and much, much more at https://majcher.itch.io/ and everything else at https://majcher.com/. Lowell Francis is the designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin. He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community. You can find Lowell's work on YouTube, on Itch.io, and on DriveThruRPG. Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming CommunitySupport us on Patreon!Our actual play podcast can be found hereFollow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpgBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpgMastodon: @openhearthrpg@dice.camp Music: Here Comes the Night Karl Casey @White Bat Audio 00:00 Introduction: Apocalypse World03:30 What It Is13:26 Publication/Gaming History25:19 Media Context/Influences32:23 General Thoughts

    55 min
  2. Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History: Ep. 6 Godlike & Wild Talents

    20 ENE

    Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History: Ep. 6 Godlike & Wild Talents

    Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History looks at two related RPG systems. First Godlike, the World War II supers game that leans into realism and consistency. Second Wild Talents, the evolution of the systems from Godlike which can follow that history or be recast into a generic supers RPG. The hosts look at what both games do, their place in the history of gaming, and the influence of related comics media. They wrap that up general discussion, including what what's weird and what they dug. If you dig this series, please rate, review, and subscribe. Jay's the author of By Aecer’s Light, The Clockwinders for Fate, Cortex Prime's Supers, and a contributing author on Pathfinder’s Mwangi Expanse, Trophy Gold, Hit the Streets: Defend the Block, and the upcoming Lifted: Indomitable RPG, a supers game about everyday folks with extraordinary powers in a tech-aggressive world. Check out Mad Jay's work at Play.Fearless and at the Diceology Podcast. Lowell is the designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin. He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community. You can find Lowell's work on YouTube, on Itch.io, and on DriveThruRPG. Thanks to Rich Rogers for the edit of this episode. Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming CommunitySupport us on Patreon!Our actual play podcast can be found hereFollow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpgBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpgMastodon: @openhearthrpg@dice.camp 00:00 Intro01:10 The Pitch09:34 Gaming History17:00 Comics & Media History21:44 Thoughts

    48 min
  3. 31/12/2025

    Open Hearth Games of the Year 2025

    A collection of favorite tabletop RPGs of 2025 from our community members. It's split into three sections, with host picks in-between. Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming CommunitySupport us on Patreon!Our actual play podcast can be found hereFollow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpgBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpgMastodon: @openhearthrpg@dice.camp SPOILERDominik | Apocalypse KeysRae Nedjadi | HarvestAlexander Marchant | Last Train to BremenHorst | Mystic BastionlandMarc Majcher | Triangle Agency / Ultraviolet GrasslandsMads | Trophy DarkAnders | Sentinel Comics RPGKieron Gillan | Seven Part PactMike Minutillo | The WatchJim Crocker | Band of BladesSean Smith | OD&DTea | Sundered IslesFerret | PrometheanSherri | DIEJesse Ableman | HarvestWill | Mystic BastionlandWyllora | Triangle AgencyCasey | Yazeba's Bed and BreakfastMike Ferdinando | Ultraviolet GrasslandsAlun Rees | GrimwildJex Thomas | ExileNat Knight | Blood FeudGerrit Reninghaus | Pizza BoxLloyd Gyan | DaggerheartMichele | AnamnesisGuy Milner | You Must Leave This Party AloneRich Rogers | SmallvilleLowell | Writers' RoomSina | Apocalypse KeysThomas Manuel | Last Train to Bremen, Impossible Landscapes, HarvestGabe | Mystic BastionlandWill S | Triangle AgencyMichael D | Yazeba's Bed and BreakfastDom | Cats of CthulhuShane | OddfolkAmanda Mullins | NumbskullsDonogh McCarthy | Star Trek Adventures 2nd edCat | Triangle AgencyDavid MK | Stonetop, AWBO, Ex-CapesBez | Chapter Dungeon CrawlerJosé | Girl by Moonlight

    1 h y 52 min
  4. Roll for Mutation: Post-Apocalyptic TTRPG History: Ep. 3 Paranoia

    18/11/2025

    Roll for Mutation: Post-Apocalyptic TTRPG History: Ep. 3 Paranoia

    Note: we had some audio issues with this recording (apologies)! In our third episode of Roll for Mutation, a look at the history of Post-Apocalyptic TTRPGs, we bow in abject obeisance Friend Computer and the incomparably perfect TTRPG Paranoia from West End Games and then Mongoose. We consider the different editions and how we live in a phenomenal time which sometimes necessitates updating. But of course it never actually changed, since the Computer tells us that it has always been that way. Hosts Lowell Francis and Marc Majcher cover the extended history of the game and how it desperately raced to keep itself contemporary. We talk about what Paranoia is, where it fits in gaming history, our split experience playing it, and our general thoughts about the game. ReferencesParanoia on WikipediaParanoia on RPG GeekRPGNet Interview with James Wallis, Grant Howitt & Paul DeanThe Toothpaste DisasterDesigners & Dragons Volume 2 The 1980s For other shows like this, check out Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History. Marc Majcher is an award-winning game designer, performer, educator, director, woodworker, writer, and all-around goblin-man recently relocated from Austin, Texas to East Lansing, Michigan. You can find their RPGs and LARPs inspired by the works of Philip K. Dick, a bird apocalypse, eldritch startup cults, viral videos, and much, much more at https://majcher.itch.io/ and everything else at https://majcher.com/. Lowell Francis is the designer and co-author of Hearts of Wulin. He's the ENnie-winning creator of the Age of Ravens blog and community manager for the Open Hearth Gaming Community. You can find Lowell's work on YouTube, on Itch.io, and on DriveThruRPG. Find out more about the Open Hearth Gaming CommunitySupport us on Patreon!Our actual play podcast can be found hereFollow us on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/open-hearth-rpgBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/openhearthrpgMastodon: @openhearthrpg@dice.camp Music: Here Comes the Night Karl Casey @White Bat Audio 00:00 Introduction: Paranoia00:45 What is it?09:28 Gaming History21:10 The Media Context28:47 Our Thoughts

    57 min

Acerca de

Around the Hearth features discussion on a wide range of topics relevant to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) featuring members of the Open Hearth Gaming Community. We talk games, gameplay, design, and the games being played at the Open Hearth Gaming Calendar. Our online games are free and open to all! If you'd like to join the fun, visit openhearthgaming.com for more information.

También te podría interesar