All Episodes
Displaying 1 - 20 of 66 in total
Open Hearth Podcast Ep 17: Under Hollow Hills, Raccoon Sky Pirates, CAIN
In this episode of the Open Hearth Podcast, host Tea talks with a couple of community members about their gaming. This time Maiya and Sina discuss things they recently...
A Different Kind of Hex Ep. 8 - Your Home Table
Ian, José, and special correspondent Danny put the knowledge we've gained from past episodes into practice. We talk about figuring out what you actually like in a game...
Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History: Ep. 8 Smallville & Marvel Heroic
Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History looks at two closely linked licensed supers games: Smallville and Marvel Heroic. To dig into this pair, Lowell and Jay bring on R...
Open Hearth Podcast Ep 16: Ars Magica, Long Campaigns & Modern Supers
In this episode of the Open Hearth Podcast, host Lowell Francis (edige23) once again talks with a couple of community members about their recent gaming. This time we h...
Talking Playtesting
This episode presents a community talk from back in 2022. It features Rae Nedjadi, David MK, and myself talking about managing and working with playtests. It seemed li...
Roll for Mutation: Post-Apocalyptic TTRPG History: Ep. 5 Tank Girl & Wizards
In our fifth episode of Roll for Mutation, we look at two different licensed post-apocalyptic TTRPGs from the 1990s. First, World of Tank Girl, part of West End Games ...
Talking Long Campaigns
While the Open Hearth Community has often focused on one-shots, two-shots, and monthly short campaigns, there's always the siren call of running a longer series: a qua...
A Different Kind of Hex Ep. 7 - Showing & Telling
Ian, José, and special guest Shane explore the space between direct exposition and embodied demonstration during play. How are these two approaches different? What are...
Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History: Ep. 7 Mutants & Masterminds
Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History looks all four editions of one of the most important modern supers TTRPGs, Mutants & Masterminds. Jay and Lowell talk about the c...
Talking Adapting Modules
Since almost the beginning, game publishers have supplemented games with pre-generated dungeons, scenarios, and campaigns. Some of these have becomes touchstones among...
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 ...
Talking RPG Cities
What makes a good city in a role-playing game? People, places, factions, rumors? We're going to be talking about that and bringing together your insights. This communi...
A Different Kind of Hex Ep. 6 - The Gift of Offers
As the first installment in a series of episodes on improv tools at the gaming table, Ian & José are joined by Karen Twelves, the author of Improv for Gamers, to discu...
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 Wil...
Open Hearth Podcast Ep 15: Mythic Bastionland, Villa Encantata, Rapscallion
In this episode host Lowell Francis is joined by Kieron Gillen and Cat Rambo to talk about recent games, plans for future games, current writing projects, and more.Kie...
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 Hear...
Open Hearth Podcast Ep 14: Going for Broke, Grimwild, Band of Blades
In this episode host Lowell Francis is joined by Michael D. and Alun R. to talk about the ups and downs of "funny" game mechanics, a modern approach to traditional fan...
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 ...
A Different Kind of Hex Ep. 5 - Playing to Fail
Content Advisory: character death, ritual sacrificeIan & José are joined by Wyllora to explore what it means to fail in an RPG, and why we might want to do it on purpo...
Talking Space Opera
Lets talk widescreen, big idea sci-fi. Games of space fleets, interstellar empires, sometimes aliens-- big ideas and lasers. Games like Star Trek Adventures, Traveller...