The Rudest TTRPG Actual Play Ever?! (w/ Christopher Hastings & Joe Lepore)

Summary

Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry: "The Rudest TTRPG Actual Play Ever?!" with Christopher Hastings & Joe Lepore

Release Date: May 28, 2025

Welcome to a detailed summary of the "Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry" episode titled "The Rudest TTRPG Actual Play Ever?!", hosted by Geek & Sundry. This episode features an engaging conversation with Christopher Hastings and Joe Lepore, renowned storytellers from the "Rude Tales of Magic" podcast. Below, we delve into their journeys in tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), the creation of their unique campaign, and their insights for aspiring Dungeon Masters (DMs).

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1. Introduction

Dan Casey welcomes adventurers to the episode, introducing guests Christopher Hastings and Joe Lepore, the creative minds behind "Rude Tales of Magic." [01:05]

Dan Casey: “Folks, please welcome Joe Lepore and Christopher Hastings. Thank you, Joe. Guys. Chris, Joe, thank you for being here. I really appreciate it.”

2. Early Experiences in TTRPGs

a. Christopher Hastings’ Beginnings

Christopher recounts his introduction to TTRPGs during the late 1990s while working at a Boy Scout camp. His first exposure was through coworkers playing the "Ravenloft Mask of the Red Death" module of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), which blended Lovecraftian horror with traditional gameplay.

Christopher Hastings: “I had never heard of this thing before... but I got hooked at that point.”

He describes his excitement upon discovering a version of D&D that diverged significantly from the standard rules, incorporating whimsical elements like "space cats in flying convertibles," which captivated his imagination and drew him deeper into the world of tabletop gaming.

b. Joe Lepore’s Journey

Growing up in Hull, Massachusetts, Joe had limited exposure to the nerd culture prevalent in larger cities. His high school had a minimal number of students interested in anime and comic books, making it difficult to find peers to play TTRPGs. Fast forward to 2015, Joe reconnects with Christopher and other friends through improv and sketch comedy in New York City, leading to the formation of their first D&D group.

Joe Lepore: “I was instantly, instantly hooked, baby. I couldn't get enough.”

This newfound camaraderie culminated in the creation of "Rude Tales of Magic," as their enthusiasm and energy propelled them to expand beyond their initial six-episode plan.

3. Developing Characters

a. Christopher Hastings’ First Character

Christopher’s inaugural character was Brother Sebastian, a human cleric of Mystra, the goddess of magic, designed with a min-maxed approach inspired by D&D sourcebooks.

Christopher Hastings: “Brother Sebastian was... able to cast wizard spells, like, one level later than a wizard would have been able to.”

He candidly admits to metagaming—using knowledge outside the game to gain advantages—highlighting his early passion for crafting powerful characters.

b. Joe Lepore’s First Character

Joe shares his first character, Flint Frostbeard, a dwarf fighter who is an academic and scholar yet humorously inept.

Joe Lepore: “He was none the wiser really. But after that first session, I was like... I could have been a fucking wizard.”

Inspired by Christopher’s warlock, Joe transitioned Flint into a spellcasting fighter subclass, showcasing his adaptability and eagerness to explore different character dynamics.

4. The Genesis of Rude Tales of Magic

"Rude Tales of Magic" emerged from the collaborative energy of Christopher and Joe, both seasoned improvisers in New York City's Magnet Theater. Their deep trust and shared comedic sensibilities allowed them to infuse traditional fantasy narratives with a unique blend of humor and heart.

Joe Lepore: “We've got a healthy and loving disrespect of Dungeons and Dragons fantasy... we find that to be the sweet spot of what entertains us.”

This blend of chaos and emotional depth creates a distinctive storytelling experience, making the adventures both entertaining and emotionally resonant.

5. Campaigns and Storytelling

a. Nethermerc Campaign

Their current campaign, Nethermerc, is a creative twist on the classic underdark setting from the Forgotten Realms. Christopher crafted a dark, metallic-themed world filled with whimsical elements reminiscent of "Fraggle Rock," populated by peculiar creatures and menacing slimes.

Christopher Hastings: “It is like navigating the awful caves of a fantasy world where every single monster... has been driven underground and trying to escape that.”

The campaign maintains a mysterious connection to Cordelia, a central setting, hinting at deeper lore yet to be fully revealed.

b. Interconnected Storylines

While "Nethermerc" primarily focuses on the underdark, subtle ties to Cordelia enrich the narrative, allowing for expansive world-building and intertwined storylines that keep players and listeners intrigued.

6. Memorable Moments of Rudeness

Both creators share instances where their characters behaved rudely, adding drama and depth to their campaigns.

Christopher Hastings: “I believe in your world, man. I like to me, I'm like, I know that this will work out... he thinks Chris is quitting the show.”

In one pivotal moment, Christopher's character abruptly exits the game, leading to unexpected plot developments and prolonged story arcs.

Joe Lepore: “And my character... I have to do. I don't have to deal with their bull anymore. I'm free.”

These moments highlight the dynamic and unpredictable nature of their storytelling, where character actions significantly influence the overarching narrative.

7. Advice for Aspiring Dungeon Masters

a. Christopher Hastings’ Tips

Christopher emphasizes the importance of collaborative storytelling and active listening. He advises DMs to engage with players' interests rather than imposing rigid storylines.

Christopher Hastings: “Talk to them and see what they want out of the game. You don't need to come up with some massive story that they just get plunked down into.”

By incorporating players' fears and desires, like Ally Fisher's character fearing the "Light Eater," DMs can create personalized and immersive experiences.

b. Joe Lepore’s Insights

Joe advocates for minimal preparation to foster spontaneity and discovery during gameplay. He warns against over-preparing, which can lead to frustration and limit the evolving story.

Joe Lepore: “If you're the DM, prepare less... allow discovery at the table. That's so much fun for everyone.”

He recommends starting with simple frameworks and expanding organically based on player interactions and interests.

8. Favorite and Underrated TTRPGs

a. Christopher Hastings’ Favorite: Mirkborg

Christopher champions Mirkborg by Free League Publishing, praising its atmospheric depth and rule-light nature.

Christopher Hastings: “Mirkborg is just so metal. It's so dark... it's a gorgeous work of art.”

He appreciates how the game balances heavy thematic elements with engaging gameplay mechanics, fostering a rich storytelling environment.

b. Joe Lepore’s Recommendation: Lasers and Feelings

Joe introduces Lasers and Feelings by John Harper as an excellent gateway game for newcomers seeking simplicity and flexibility.

Joe Lepore: “It's so easy to pick up, it's so easy to learn the mechanics. It's a one-pager, it's a free PDF.”

He highlights its adaptability and accessibility, making it an ideal starting point for groups looking to explore beyond D&D.

9. Game Night Recommendations

The guests share their top game picks for a group setting:

a. Christopher Hastings: Mythic Mischief

Christopher recommends Mythic Mischief, a strategy board game where players control factions of supernatural beings competing to steal books from a forbidden library.

Christopher Hastings: “It's so fun. Better than chess.”

b. Joe Lepore: Diplomacy and Twilight Imperium

Joe expresses a love for Diplomacy and Twilight Imperium, acknowledging their complexity and the deep strategic thinking they demand.

Joe Lepore: “Diplomacy... it's like a World War I war game... everyone has to argue in other rooms and try to convince each other to work together to win.”

10. Conclusion and Where to Find Rude Tales of Magic

Dan Casey wraps up the episode by directing listeners to find "Rude Tales of Magic" online.

Joe Lepore: “Head to rudetalesofmagic.com or find us on all major social media platforms.”

Christopher adds that there’s no brand confusion, ensuring new listeners can easily locate their content.

Christopher Hastings: “You Google that, you DuckDuckGo it, you Bing it. You'll find us.”

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Notable Quotes:

• Christopher Hastings [02:16]: “I had never heard of this thing before... but I got hooked at that point.”
• Joe Lepore [10:45]: “I was very much like, I don't actually know how this works.”
• Christopher Hastings [20:35]: “We take the lore and the worlds and the mythology of fantasy games... mix it up and you discover that actually there's quite a lot of sweetheart to it as well.”
• Joe Lepore [39:39]: “If you're the DM, prepare less... allow discovery at the table.”

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Final Thoughts

This episode of "Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry" offers valuable insights into the creative process behind "Rude Tales of Magic," emphasizing the importance of collaboration, flexibility, and player engagement in crafting memorable TTRPG experiences. Whether you're a seasoned player or new to the realm of tabletop gaming, Christopher Hastings and Joe Lepore provide inspiration and practical advice to enhance your storytelling adventures.

For more episodes and content, visit Geek & Sundry or tune into their YouTube channel and podcast platforms.

Transcript

[Dan Casey]

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[Joe Lepore]

And breathe.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, sorry.

[Dan Casey]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, sorry.

[Dan Casey]

Namaste.

[Christopher Hastings]

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[Dan Casey]

1-800-Contacts.

[Joe Lepore]

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[Dan Casey]

Greetings, adventurers, and welcome back to Quests and Answers, the show where we talk to all manner of awesome people from around the gaming world. I'm Dan Casey, and today we have not one, but two very special guests. Joining me right here in the Conversation Dungeon. You may have heard their dulcet tones spinning yarns about unruly college students at Polaris University, or monstrous creatures lurking in the depths of the Nethermerc, or all manner of other weird little freaks on the Rude Tales of Magic podcast. Folks, please welcome Joe Lepore and Christopher Hastings. Thank you, Joe. Guys. Chris, Joe, thank you for being here. I really appreciate it.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, my goodness. Thank you for acknowledging our little freaks.

[Dan Casey]

I. That's. That's one of the things I love about the show. I'm a big fan of weird little guys, and you. You folks have them in spades.

[Joe Lepore]

Talking about Chris's goodness. What about my goodness? Thank you so much, Dan. We're thrilled to be here.

[Dan Casey]

I'm thrilled to have you here. You know, this show, we talk to people about all sorts of things, but given that you folks are firmly entrenched in that world of tabletop role playing games and storytelling, I want to start talking to both of you as your experience as players, and I want to take it back to the very beginning. What was your earliest experience playing a ttrpg?

[Joe Lepore]

Chris, I think you should start because chronologically, your first.

[Christopher Hastings]

We want to do in chronological.

[Joe Lepore]

I think we should start from the very beginning. It's a very good place to start, my friend.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah, we need this to be an accurate timeline or Else our audience will revolt.

[Joe Lepore]

Okay, so because my story doesn't happen without Chris, actually.

[Dan Casey]

Oh, wow.

[Joe Lepore]

So it only makes sense to do Chris first and then he can sort of weave me in my.

[Christopher Hastings]

So mine starts in, like, I want to say 1997 or 1998. Some I forget exactly the year, but late 90s.

[Joe Lepore]

Do you remember if Princess Diana was alive?

[Christopher Hastings]

She was definitely in our hearts and minds.

[Dan Casey]

Okay, so probably 98 in Beanie Baby form.

[Christopher Hastings]

I don't know. I don't remember. But I worked at a. I worked at a boy Scout camp. At the Boy Scout camp, the. The kids, we would have different, like, age groups that would. Depending on the week. The age group would go home at like 2pm maybe some days or like 5pm and like, it was only the. The teenagers who would, like, stay, like, overnight. But we had, that is to say we had a lot of free time in the evening as we had to stay on site at the camp. And as I think, you know, prisoners will tell you, free time is great for Dungeons and Dragons. I had never heard of this thing before. And, you know, I was, like, going around, like, draining the, you know, some ditch or something, you know, with one of my co workers.

[Joe Lepore]

Oh, oh.

[Dan Casey]

And he's been banished to the netherrealm.

[Joe Lepore]

I'll fill it.

[Dan Casey]

I will mark this so we can edit around it.

[Joe Lepore]

He was draining a ditch and he was using a shovel to clear away, and he hit something hard and he opened it up and it was sort of a cask and he released it. And inside were Advanced Dungeons and Dragons source books.

[Dan Casey]

Who could have buried these in this ditch? It's a good thing. I was tasked with exhuming it.

[Joe Lepore]

He will be back shortly.

[Dan Casey]

Yes, after these messages.

[Joe Lepore]

Oh.

[Christopher Hastings]

So I was, you know, cleaning out some ditch or something and talking to a fellow staff member and he was telling me about this game that he was playing where, like, he got to be like, this dude who, like, dual wielded shotguns and he was fighting vampires and demons and, like, oh. But because he was dual wielding, he was like, oh, yeah, I have to rest the butts against my hips and. And that, like, causes damage to, like, how quickly I can move. And I was like, what. What is this game? I don't know. Like, like, I'm excited about, like, Ocarina of Time at this point. And Ocarina of Time does not have, you know, as a game, does not have dual wielding shotguns that, you know, have a penalty to your hips. And eventually I discover that, like, yeah, they were playing this they're playing Dungeons and Dragons, but specifically my fellow staff members were playing Ravenloft Mask of the Red Death, which is sort of a Lovecraftian 1800s, I think, version of the game where magic is rare and dangerous. And I was like, I gotta play this game with you guys. And so, like, I read all their little books, and I was like, so I'm like, oh, I'm gonna be like a Van Helsing character and, like, join them. And I joined the game and discovered, like, they've already gone so off the rails from the rule from, like, the original books. Like, they. They have met up with, like, space cats that drive a. A flying convertible. And it just. I was. But I was. I was hooked. I was hooked at that point. And then eventually got into a more normal Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game at that same Boy Scout camp and. And then got, like, more and more into it then. And, like, you know, subscribe to Dragon and Dungeon magazine and, like, have, you know, been into it ever since.

[Dan Casey]

I love that you got the. The truest possible D and D intro experience of just finding something that is so far removed from what the sourcebook actually contains. That. Yeah, it really is the anything game. So that's what I love about it.

[Christopher Hastings]

But it is the anything game.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah. Joe, what about you? You said that your. Your tales intersect.

[Joe Lepore]

I want you to Fast forward about 17 years, O Princess Diana, regrettably long.

[Dan Casey]

Dead, and RIP Queen.

[Joe Lepore]

Hey, she's a queen to me. You know what?

[Dan Casey]

I was rounding up.

[Joe Lepore]

She didn't make it there in life, but God damn it, she's one in heaven. Chris and I have known each other for, like, five years. At this point, it's. It's 2015.

[Christopher Hastings]

Glad you're keeping track.

[Joe Lepore]

And he's right, by the way. Yeah. Yep.

[Christopher Hastings]

His years are cracked.

[Joe Lepore]

And I had. I had never. It's hard to explain. I don't know if you would, Dan. I don't know. I don't know how you grew up. I don't know how you lived your life, but where I was. I grew up in this, like, in this tiny New England beach town where you, like, what.

[Dan Casey]

What town? I also grew up in New England.

[Joe Lepore]

I grew up in Hull, Massachusetts.

[Dan Casey]

Okay. I grew up in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

[Joe Lepore]

Okay, gotcha. Yes, well, Hull's not a place where you're really, like, supposed to raise children. It's, like. It's, like, too small and is, like, there for drinking. So, like, for the people that, like, happened to have children and live there, there was a school, but, you know, there Wasn't. There wasn't like a critical mass of nerds. My, my, my public high school graduating class was 75. Oh, wow. So there just, there were like two guys that liked anime and I wasn't really friends with them. And there was like one of my friends and had read some Hellboy, but nobody else read comic books. And so there just wasn't like four or five people that could have been wrangled to play D and D if you wanted to.

[Dan Casey]

Right.

[Joe Lepore]

And somebody had a monster manual. I remember somebody had a third edition monster manual and it got passed around as like a good resource for drawing dragons. But no one was like, oh, this is a game that we could play and do it together. So that never happened in high school. And then Fast forward to 2015. Chris and I have been doing improv and sketch comedy in New York City at the Magnet Theater for several years at that point. And I don't know whose idea it was in the first place, but somebody said we should play dd. And as something I had always been like, oh, I wish I could have done this had I known enough people interested. I jumped at the chance. And it was, it was 10 years ago last month, April 2015, I played in my first DND game with Chris Hastings, Carly Menardo and Ali Fisher, who would all go on to Rude Tales with me and, and our friend Justin. And that was my first taste 5e. That was my first taste of playing D and D. I was instantly, instantly hooked, baby. I couldn't get enough. I started. We were meeting like, we were meeting bi weekly and everyone.

[Christopher Hastings]

At best.

[Joe Lepore]

At best. But then if, like, if one of those sessions didn't happen, then it would mean we were going like a month between games, which wasn't working for Joey. Joey needed more of that good stuff. Joey needed more dice, baby. So I started running my own game. I started DMing for the first time and I ran a home game with a bunch of friends, several of whom I still play D and D for free and for pleasure with. And Branson Reese, who is also on Rude Tales. And that was just recreational for, you know, 2015 through 2019 when we all fell in together along with Tim Platt and Rudales was born.

[Dan Casey]

That's very cool. I love the, of the journey from that, like proto home game. Just like getting D and D pilled super hard and then getting to make something cool with your friends. That's always the, that's always the dream there. Do you remember your earliest characters?

[Joe Lepore]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh my gosh. Of course.

[Dan Casey]

I Do. Who is your first character?

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, man. I mean, I have a lot of first characters, but I think the one that, like, really went the distance for me when I was a teenager was a human cleric of mystra, goddess of magic, named Brother Sebastian. And Brother Sebastian was a real min maxed son of a bitch from all of those dragon magazines that I collected, plus other weird supplements. And so I was able to patch together this priest character that because he was a priest of the gods of magic, he was able to cast wizard spells, like, one level later than a wizard would have been able to. So, like, what is it? When do you get the good, like, third level spells? I think you're at, I feel like.

[Dan Casey]

Level four, five, maybe. Yeah, it's later than. It's later than you expect.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah. And I am speaking specifically of second edition. This is when this.

[Dan Casey]

Okay.

[Christopher Hastings]

Like, and then I was able to. So, like, that was an ability I grabbed from one source and then there was another official source, had, like, a ridiculously overpowered teleportation spell that, like, should not have been available to such a low level character that he just used to, like, like, open up a gateway and. And, like, and then slice bad guys in half with it.

[Joe Lepore]

Oh, that's. That's really smart.

[Christopher Hastings]

Thank you. Well, I was metagaming.

[Joe Lepore]

Joe, can I get that spell?

[Christopher Hastings]

No, no, it's. It's outlawed. Haven't you heard of the Sundering? No, the second Sundering. All these things happened in the forgotten realms that made these magic spells not work anymore.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah, but what if I live in. What if I operate in, like, a proprietary fictional world without any sunderings?

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah.

[Dan Casey]

What if he finds an issue of Dragon magazine in another ditch?

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, but. Yeah, that was Brother Sebastian. Love that guy.

[Dan Casey]

Are you still. Are you still a min. Maxer?

[Christopher Hastings]

No, no, no, I don't. I don't play that way at all.

[Joe Lepore]

Having. Having played a lot with Chris in various campaigns and games, both on and off mic, I would say Chris is, like, extremely the opposite. Yeah, Chris will play a character who is, like, allergic to combat or, like, cannot. You know, we. One of our. One of our campaigns on rude tales. Chris was a centaur who was originally a horse, right?

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

And so possessed.

[Christopher Hastings]

He was a horse that was blessed with half the goodness of man.

[Joe Lepore]

And had, like, all of the knowledge you would expect a horse to have. Couldn't. Couldn't. Like, couldn't do, like, addition, you know, so it was not. Not a great help in, like, puzzles or riddles.

[Christopher Hastings]

I gotta. I gotta shout out dragon Magazine for that though, because I do distinctly remember there was an article and like, what do you do with a character when you've got one stat that's really, really low? And like a beautiful little one page article on like, this is a role playing gift for you to have like one really crummy stat. And I have taken it to heart ever since.

[Dan Casey]

I agree it makes for more interesting storytelling, especially for you as the player as well. It just sounds like a unique challenge to incorporate or overcome.

[Christopher Hastings]

But like they're superheroes otherwise, so like, whatever.

[Dan Casey]

Yes, they'll become superheroes eventually.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, that's the I, I do. Generally when I make a character, I, I do have like one purposely like low stat, like a sub 9. But one of those stats is always an 18. I don't care. One of, one of them has to be. One of them has to give me that plus four.

[Dan Casey]

You gotta, you gotta have to excel sometimes. You gotta get those sweet, sweet crits. But Joe, what about you? What was your earliest character in our.

[Joe Lepore]

First game stretching all those 10 years ago, which was a campaign that ran for like four years. Three years. Four years.

[Dan Casey]

That's pretty impressive.

[Joe Lepore]

I was in creating my first character, I was definitely a little intimidated of being the only newbie. Allie Fisher, who's also on Rude Tales, had played a lot of role playing games herself had been in like a huge like Vampire the Masquerade campaign at some. But, you know, was like, knew what she was doing. Chris, obviously, and Carly had done D and D before. So I was very much like, I don't actually know how this works. And it was still like kind of early days of like DND streaming. There wasn't a ton of like, oh, yeah.

[Christopher Hastings]

I mean, watch. I think I want to say back then it was just acquisitions incorporated.

[Joe Lepore]

Like maybe critical role started that year.

[Dan Casey]

Or critical role started in 2015.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah, exactly. So I was like, well, the magic seems cool. It seems obviously the, obviously all the, all the magic stuff is cool. But I was literally like, it feels like too much to bite off. So my first character was a dwarf fighter named Flint Frostbeard. He was, he was a, he was an academic, he was a, he was a scholar, but. And had like all the trappings of like a prestige elite professor, but was dumb as rocks. So like his university basically like sent him off on field work to like get rid of him. And, and he was, and he was none the wiser really. But after that first session, I was like. And seeing Chris's, you know, Chris played a wiz, a warlock And I immediately like, as soon as five minutes into the first game, it clicked and I was like, oh, I could have been a fucking wizard.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, so and so makes it very easy too.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah. So I picked. I forget what it's called, like the Arcane Knight or whatever. When it was time to subclass at level 3, I like picked the. I picked the fighter subclass that allows you to access spells. But yeah, he was a fun. He was a fun guy.

[Dan Casey]

I feel like Dwarven Fighter is such a classic archetype for people to enter the game with. And I love that story as well. Just, it can feel really intimidating at first when you're looking at the rule book and feeling like I don't want to beef it in front of everyone else or this feels like too much to digest. But you know, it really is just a choose your own adventure book with some light math to determine what happens.

[Joe Lepore]

I think to this day played, you know, hundreds of on mic, you know, for content D and D sessions and, and. And you know, just as many off mic. If I like when sometimes looking at a sourcebook or a module, I'm like, how does this. How are you expecting to work at a table? Yes, there are there, I find. So I feel like I find so many gaps of like understanding what they're. What the writer is trying to get across in a. In a game that feels like it won't translate to me at a table. And I mean, I haven't. I haven't looked that much into the new additions.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, they're fine. There's fun stuff in Joe.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah. Oh yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

I start. I started this new home game last year and it was like. It was in the fall and we were basically like, the new stuff's not ready, so we're just sticking. Fight. We're just sticking with 5e.

[Dan Casey]

They. They make it pretty easy to upgrade if. Especially if you're using sub platform like D and D beyond.

[Christopher Hastings]

It's mostly compatible. One of my favorite changes in the. In the new version is like the Aboleth. Sorry, just.

[Dan Casey]

Oh yeah, just.

[Christopher Hastings]

I don't know, just like we're talking about, like, because it's like largely like it's pretty much just like a couple of tweaks to 5e and you can still use the 5e rules, but like my. A couple changes I noticed like the Aboleth is like a very scary thing.

[Dan Casey]

Terrifying.

[Christopher Hastings]

Like what if you have a God from another dimension lurking in the lake by your town? Like. Yeah, I love that so much and I really like the changes to the death knight. I like that. They like that. Like, oh, this is a commander of an army of undead. Like, I think it's really cool.

[Dan Casey]

I also appreciate what they did in terms of giving you more codified mechanics for building bases for.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, I didn't even get to that bit.

[Dan Casey]

That's called, like, Bastion Mechanics. I think basically it just gives you formalized systems for building like a headquarters for your group, which they always had a little bit of that in there. I remember especially, like, poring over the DMs guide with third edition, like, just reading it over and over be like, someday I'll figure this out. I never did. But now they have easier to use systems in place, so I think that's smart.

[Christopher Hastings]

I remember in that game that I played when I was a teenager with my, you know, Priest of Mystra, like, we all got to a point where we were just kicking so much ass. We were just like, well, we just defeated a guy who has a castle. We should take it. And now. And now we will set up an entire city around it. And like, oh, no, suddenly we're lords.

[Dan Casey]

We didn't really follow the main quest. We just became landlords and taxed the people.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah. Oh, feudal society. What an interesting history lesson.

[Dan Casey]

That's how it always goes. Well, speaking of kicking ass, I do want to shift the conversation a little bit to talk about Rude Tales of Magic. I think it's a phenomenal show and I want to. For those people in our audience who have not yet taken the journey into the beating heart of Cordelia, can you describe what Rude Tales of Magic is, Chris?

[Joe Lepore]

What's our logline?

[Christopher Hastings]

We have a logline.

[Joe Lepore]

I don't know.

[Christopher Hastings]

Rude Tales of Magic is we. We take the. We take the. The lore and the worlds and the mythology of fantasy games and fantasy settings and we drop a little bit of tart acid into it from our buttholes and then we mix it up and you discover that actually there's quite a bit of sweet heart to it as well. Oh, never said that.

[Dan Casey]

And that's how Sweet tarts are made.

[Christopher Hastings]

That's how sweet are made. Yeah. No, it's like we. We goof around. We goof around in, you know, in like, pretty typical fantasy stuff. And we, we very much make a point of there being something that you give a shit about in there in terms of the people and the characters, and we find that to be the sweet spot of what entertains us.

[Dan Casey]

One thing I love about the show is there's a very clear cut, like, kind of chaotic comedic aesthetic to it. Obviously, like, you're just meeting some incredibly strange people, but there is that heart running through it that makes you care about what's going on, the stories you're telling. So I think it's great for people that want to meet some genuine weirdos and people you wouldn't expect to be at the hero of this center of this story and just see the adventures they go on. So I would highly recommend it to anyone who's listening or watching out there.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah, we've got a. I would say a healthy and loving disrespect of Dungeons and Dragons fantasy, each other. And somewhere in there, we also find a lot of comedy and a lot of heart.

[Dan Casey]

I know you mentioned this is, like, the genesis of. It was, like, dating back to that home game in 2015. Do you find that that real, that sort of adversarial relationship comes from being friends and comedians for so long? I feel like a lot of improvisers, after a certain point performing together, go from yes and to no, but, like, throwing each other under the bus in fun and interesting ways.

[Joe Lepore]

I think we definitely have a. That kind of. Yeah.

[Dan Casey]

The.

[Joe Lepore]

The evolution to the nobody is not just like, you know, disrespect is the wrong word, but it is in its own way. Like, if you really want to, like, be honest about it, there's a lot of trust.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

You know, we have, like, I. I have known Chris. I've known Chris and Carly and Branson and Ali since 2015, 2011, 2012. I've known Tim a little less. Not quite as long as that, but.

[Christopher Hastings]

Branson vouched for Tim.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah. And I've. I've still known Tim for over a decade at this point. And so we've all done both so much DD with each other and so much improv that we know really well how to play with each other and how to sort of navigate different scenes and different emotional energies. It's just really easy to be in tune with each other for that kind of thing.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah. And what Joe is speaking to is not necessarily, like, our time playing Dungeons and Dragons together, but we've spent a lot more time doing improv together. We are all performers in the New York improv scene. You gotta put a lot of trust in Mr. Joe Lepore. When you walk out on stage in front of some 50 people and say some line like, oh, well, I guess the Mets went to hell the other day, and then you just say, like, joe. Joe's gonna need to know, and he's.

[Joe Lepore]

Gonna Trust me to say, like, that won't help us put out this burning building. George Washington.

[Christopher Hastings]

You did the 30 rock versus. Yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah.

[Christopher Hastings]

You did the. Like.

[Joe Lepore]

I just got 30 rock.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah.

[Dan Casey]

What is it? Good artists borrow, Great artists steal. Yeah, it's. It's. You're wearing your inspirations on your sleeve. Now, I have an important question is who of who among you is the rudest and conversely, who is the most polite?

[Christopher Hastings]

It's gotta be Branson Rudis, right?

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah. Branson's the rudest. Branson's definitely the rudest. I feel like. I feel like Tim and Carly are in competition for the most polite.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah. That said, I will say, whenever my mother was pregnant with the fetus that would become me whenever.

[Joe Lepore]

Who could say?

[Christopher Hastings]

I mean, I know exactly.

[Dan Casey]

Impossible to carbon date.

[Christopher Hastings]

I think that she wanted to be me. She wanted me to be named Christopher after several men named Chris that she knew who were very polite. And she wanted a polite man. She wanted a polite son.

[Dan Casey]

Wow. Yeah, that is. That is interesting.

[Christopher Hastings]

And here I am doing a podcast that makes her cry every other week.

[Dan Casey]

He's so rude.

[Christopher Hastings]

But I am very nice where it. I am. I am polite where it counts.

[Dan Casey]

Good. I say, so far, I'll put you both in the middle of the. The spectrum. But that's important to be able to speak to both polls. What's the rudest thing you've ever done in a game of dnd?

[Joe Lepore]

Oh.

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, man. There is an. An early episode of Root Tales of Magic. And again, this speaks to my trust in the other players, but I. It turns out that maybe some of them freaked out and didn't trust me as much, but there is a moment where when I'm playing Frederick Debonesby, the. The Fancy man, failed Lich Dandy skeleton, and they're just. The rest of the group is in the middle of some baloney. And he's just like, this doesn't interest me. This does not further my goals. I'm out of here. And they just had my guy, like, leave. I just had him walk out of the game. And you can hear this in the episode as Branson tries to send NPCs to come get me. He's like, what are you doing? What's going on? And I was just like. I'm like, I believe in your world, man. I like to me, I'm like, I know that this will work out, however, but he thinks Chris is quitting the show.

[Dan Casey]

Oh, no.

[Christopher Hastings]

That was probably the rudest thing I did. But I will say it. The episode so Things went bananas by the end of the episode. And the next one, I think had like such crucial character building stuff for that character and then like also, like set off some really cool stuff for everybody. I think it was a pivotal moment in the show.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah, it gives them some interesting stuff to bounce off of because, like, how do you react to that? Yeah, yeah, Party. Just piecing out.

[Christopher Hastings]

Well, what happened was that Branson eventually had the cops of the town try to like, stop us and we just lit them all on fire, which then led to us being arrested and. And then like, things.

[Joe Lepore]

And it became a long running plot line in the show that, you know. Yeah, you were cop killers.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah. But like, that was a very rude thing I did in a game of Dungeons on Dragons.

[Dan Casey]

Joe, what about you? Have you done anything as rude as leaving a room to go on a killing spree?

[Joe Lepore]

I've never done anything rude. I'm actually saintly imperfect.

[Dan Casey]

No further questions.

[Joe Lepore]

I was thinking of a kind of similar move that I made in our. In the most, you know, as of this recording, the most recent episode of the podcast that's come out in. In our Nethermoor campaign, Tim and Carly play brothers. Who. One is. Tim is 18 and Carly's character is an 11 year old or a 10 and a half year old. And at the end of the, at the end, at the end of the episode, spoilers. Tim's character teleports away to receive some, like some Luke going to Dagobah training. Because in real life he had a baby.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah. In real life, Tim had to go on paternity leave.

[Joe Lepore]

A way to get him away from the party for a couple of episodes. And then his brother, played by Carly, flies off in sort of a. In sort of a. An intense, you know, emotional quest to find his missing parents. And my character, street smart Cobalt, says, oh, great there. I have no more responsibilities with these children. I have to do. I don't have to deal with their bull anymore. I'm free. And other characters felt differently, but it was pretty rude of me to be like, ah, these kids. I'm done. I'm free. Goodbye. I don't need any more of this bullshit. I can do my own thing now. I get back to my journey.

[Dan Casey]

Yes. Finally the spotlight can go back to you.

[Christopher Hastings]

That's funny that both of us have the answer that like, oh, the rudest thing we did was like, try to have our characters exit the game.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah, you mentioned, you mentioned the Nethermerc. For those who don't know, can you set the stage for what this current campaign is. I was very excited, as I mentioned, a fan of weird little guys, and this is Deep Dark Underground, from what.

[Christopher Hastings]

We know, plenty of them. So the basic idea for Nethermer was that I wanted to do our goof on the Forgotten Realms underdark. I grew up reading the Drist books. I. And I was like, let's really. Let's go, like, play around with this 90s fantasy thing. And then that expanded into kind of not just doing underdark stuff, but like, a little bit of, like, say, Fraggle Rock, you know, talking about those weird little guys in the caves that, like, we have this sort of, like, Muppet thing happening with some of them versus, like, awful slimes and.

[Joe Lepore]

And then also very Saturday morning cartoon theme song.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, a little bit. And that's where we are with Nethermerc. That's the basic gist of. It is like navigating the awful caves of a fantasy world where every single monster on the world has been driven underground and trying to escape that.

[Dan Casey]

This is also taking place in Cordelia. How interconnected are the various campaigns?

[Christopher Hastings]

We have not said that Nethermerk takes place in Cordelia.

[Dan Casey]

Then I apologize for making that assumption.

[Christopher Hastings]

But we haven't said it isn't. There is.

[Dan Casey]

Well, then I apologize for nothing.

[Joe Lepore]

There's a lot.

[Christopher Hastings]

Save your apologies. You are catching what we are laying down, which is that there is a tie to Cordelia that we are purposefully keeping a little bit, I don't know, hazy until we want to reveal what exactly it is. Is.

[Dan Casey]

Okay, well, fantastic. I. I will be watching with an eagle eye for any details in the future.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah, there's a lot of, like, rumor and hearsay that characters discuss about what the surface is like. It is. It is unreachable. And, like, sort of like one of the big mysteries of the campaign is sort of like, can they get to the surface? What really is going on on the surface? What is its connection to how things got the way they are in the nethermerc, etc.

[Dan Casey]

I'm always a fan of people escaping from the. From Plato's Cave allegory and figuring out what's actually going on. You know, you mentioned that. You mentioned some of the influences you have with this. Now you all know each other very well. When you're approaching, like, creating a new campaign, like, when you're approaching creating something like Nethermerc, how much of it do you tend to construct in advance versus how much do you prefer to sort of fly by the seat of your pants in Conversational free fall and knowing that your castmates will be able to gird you up and like picked it. Pick up what you're putting down.

[Christopher Hastings]

What a swell question. So I, I spent a good, like, couple of weeks kind of forming a basic idea of what I wanted out of this campaign and or at least the world. I did a little world building. And then I, I said, hi everybody, to our players. Here is the basic gist of the world. It's like the idea of like this underground being this awful, very unfriendly place and kind of just giving what that looked like and being like, who do you want to play in this world? And then I had conversations with everybody once. They kind of had their basic ideas of their characters and they told me their deals. And then I said, okay, I'm going to take this bit from their deal, this bit from their deal, you know, all this little, all these little pieces, and then I'm going to actually build the rest of it so it's all connected to them. I had like one big thing that I wanted to accomplish in my vision of it, and the rest of it is all them. Like, for example, Ally Ali Fisher plays a glow pixie. She wanted to be like a little Tinkerbell like figure who's also a little bit. Is Laura Dern from Jurassic Park.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah, Jurassic park.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

Dr. Ellie Sattler.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, exactly. I had a little questionnaire for everybody. And then one of them, one of my questions on the questionnaire was like, what is your greatest fear? And I had a phone call with her and she said, the Light Eater. I was like, oh, well, what is that? She didn't know because she's a glow pixie. She gives off light. Her greatest fear is the Light Eater. I'm like, oh. So I got to like create this whole giant mythological creature of the, of the Light Eater who has become like the massive force of nature that is like this horrible monster that is like on their tails the whole time. Just because Ally said it on a phone call.

[Dan Casey]

I love that because I mean that to me is what is special about tabletop role playing games is it's not, it's, it's not like a passive experience. It's a collaborative game that you're playing together and creating a story together in real time. Like, who knows what shape it would have taken if she had not mentioned the Light Eater offhand.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, wouldn't have one. That's it. I wouldn't have thought of that.

[Joe Lepore]

Also, I think something that's important to like the construction of nethermerc is. We did not intend for it to be an ongoing campaign. Right. It was. We originally planned it as a six part miniseries while Ali Fisher had a baby. And so that we recorded before she had the baby. We. Yeah, and it was. We were gonna do six and be out and we were gonna tell a complete story within that. And so I think Chris did a lot of the prep geared towards, you know, a six episode campaign. And then we got in the room and recorded it and we're like, oh, this has a lot of momentum. There's a lot of cool energy here. These episodes are like really fast paced and fun and we're also. We also only accomplished like a third of what Chris intended to the classic DMs still. We accomplished like a third of what, you know, Chris set out to in the first episode. So it quickly became, it quickly became clear, clear that there was a lot more we wanted to do in the setting. And so it. There was. I'm sure, Chris, you can speak to this. There's a lot that's been like, there's been a lot of fleshed out discovered along the way that wasn't necessarily needed in the original genesis of the. Of. Oh, of Netherm.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah, yeah. Every I. I listen to everything you guys say along the way and as it happens, it say, well, it's the old improvised improviser trick where it's just like, if this is true, what else is true? And so every time anybody gives some bit of something that hints at world building, they say, well, let's see where that goes. And then we keep going from there.

[Joe Lepore]

We're always stopping recordings because Chris pulls out like a big quill and says, well, let's see where this goes and starts writing and won't show us what he's doing.

[Christopher Hastings]

I usually, again, I usually manage to keep the quill from hitting the microphone. But yeah, the, the, the ostrich that I plucked them from does get a.

[Dan Casey]

Fresh one each time I did.

[Christopher Hastings]

Well, of course, I'm not an amateur.

[Dan Casey]

Yes, of course that. What a rookie mistake that would be. But I do love that piece of advice and I think that's something that can really translate for people, is sort of more active listening, sort of listening to your players incor details of something that might seem innocuous to them, that can come back and be something fun and meaningful and unexpected ways. Are there any other pieces of advice that you would give to someone who's maybe trying to start up, maybe developing a new campaign or wants to spice up an existing campaign that they have.

[Christopher Hastings]

If you are working with your friends and just like talk to them about what they are excited about in the game and that doesn't need, that doesn't need to be like their backstories or whatever because that is a specific type of player who is into their backstories and into their like role playing. And again like in a home game, like they're there, you've got your, you know, your dungeon raiders and you've got your role players and you've got your, you know, whatever everything in between. But like just like talk to them and see like what they want out of the game. And we are in a, a wonderful time period where you have so many tools at your disposal for taking care of whatever that thing is that they want. And then you get to have the fun of taking those four or five players and what they want out of the game and like figuring out how to make that all weave together. So I think just like, yeah, talk to your players beforehand, like see what they want to do. You don't need to, you know, come up with some massive story that they just get plunked down into. You don't need to create insane, you know, hyper strategy, you know, hexagon tables or whatever. Unless that's what they want. You've got time to get there but like you can talk to them and see what they want out of it.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah, I mean I do love a good table but your point is well taken.

[Christopher Hastings]

Like, I mean me too but like find out if that's what they're into first.

[Dan Casey]

Exactly. So so many tables I'll never roll on, but I'm glad they exist. Joe, what about you? I know you mentioned you've run some games before. Do you have any, a piece of advice or something you would impart to someone if they were embarking on a campaign for the first time? Or maybe you wanted to think about how they approach the game differently.

[Joe Lepore]

Similar to what we were saying in the like in the genesis of Nethermerk that you know, we were able to get through like a third of what Chris planned. My go to piece of advice is like if you're the dm, prepare less a. Because you'll like if you over prepare you're gonna feel frustrated because you spent all that time beforehand that went to waste and you're not going to allow discovery at the table. You're not going to allow you know, finding what. Finding that fun thing that maybe you know, to Chris's point, which I agree with, but like maybe they can all. Maybe your players can't always articulate what they want, but if you, if you allow yourself the freedom to discover that together, that's so much fun for everyone. There's the, like, I think of the, the hokey DM meme about like, oh, I plan this big, huge dungeon and they just want to talk to the dumb NPC I didn't even name. And it's like, well, your players are excited about that thing. That's a happy problem. Like, they found a good for you. They found a guy that maybe you didn't put a lot of time into beforehand, but something clicked with them. So you got your players excited. That's great. Yeah.

[Christopher Hastings]

It turns out you just started doing the talent for playing like a charming npc. Like, great.

[Joe Lepore]

Enjoy it. That's. That's good. Yeah, that's what I would say.

[Dan Casey]

No, I definitely, I, I can appreciate that. I think like, thinking about it as like scaffolding rather than an entire building I think is definitely useful framework because I feel a lot of people, if they're sitting down to write something or write their notes for a campaign, can feel a bit daunting. If you feel like you have to be a perfectionist, everything has to be just right. But if you just start with an idea and just some loose plot points or just some ideas of where you want to go and have that conversation, I think it can open up a lot of possibilities.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't. I DM our sister show. Oh, these, these stars. Oh, I can't even say the title. Oh, these, those stars of space. And when we started that show, my show notes for Prep would be 1500 to 2000 words. And now that we're like, we've done 90 plus episodes, my prep show notes is like 400 to 500. Because I a. I trust everyone, you know, and I know that we're gonna, we're going to fill in the detail. The details. And it's more fun that way. If you give yourself those gaps, if you give, if you allow yourself to not know where you're going to end up, there's no chance of railroading, which can get frustrating for everyone too.

[Christopher Hastings]

I think if we're, I think if we're giving tips to new dms, I think it is very easy for them to hear us right now and say like, oh, okay. Like you are all trained improvisers. I'm not. So to them, I would say think about creating a scenario that will make a specific character in the party. Like, it's a problem. For them, whatever it is that their deal is something that creates a conflict for one specific person in that group. That's enough. That will blossom so much, you have no idea. And then number two, go ahead and just use the stats in the monster manual. And when you get stuck, just have them get ambushed by some random bad guys. Combat takes forever. And it's fun. You get to roll the dice, you get to fight. That's all they want. That's why they built these characters with their superpowers anyway. They just want to fight something. Like, give them something to fight. And there's a whole giant book about how powerful they are. Like, go ahead and use that. You don't have to invent any. Everything. There's a lot of tools, a lot.

[Dan Casey]

Of tools to use. And also, just the thing that always gets me is combat taking forever, but only taking 6 seconds per round or the. The time dilation is impressive, as you know, you mentioned that, you know, there are prospective listeners saying, hey, you guys are professional improvisers. Well, you're also telling a story for a public audience. And I'm curious, as storytellers, as comedians, what do you find most gratifying or exciting about the medium of actual play?

[Joe Lepore]

I appreciate the amount of freedom we have. I appreciate the. The ways we are able to jump around from tone and energy and emotion and comedy, sometimes within a scene. I appreciate. I appreciate doing cool spells.

[Christopher Hastings]

I like that the medium of actual play comes with expectations from the listeners in the way that any genre does. If someone goes into a horror movie or an action movie or a romance or whatever, they have kind of an idea what they're getting into. And so we have that expectation built into the format, thanks to our forebears. And so that is great for comedy because they know what to expect. And so when we subvert, it makes the comedy a lot more easy to pull off. And then in terms of just like working in audio, it's. It's. Gosh, it's lovely how inexpensive it is to make a picture in someone's mind versus having to go out there and get a film crew and actors and so on, so on and so forth. I love formats that like that call upon the audience's imagination to fill in the blanks. I have a long career in comic books, which is the exact same thing. Yes, we draw these pictures, but there's a lot that happens in between them that you might not realize is happening in your imagination. Yeah. And so I like that very much. I like that the. How inexpensive it is leads to a lot of freedom. And I like that we have this sort of built in genre expectation that we can play with.

[Dan Casey]

Fantastic. I love, I love all those answers. I love everything that you said. And I agree it's def. The freedom inherent to this specific mode of storytelling. You know, it does feel like this infinite story engine, especially with multiple people taking narration, giving and taking, sharing this experience together. It's just always a lot of fun.

[Joe Lepore]

I think the other thing I like too, just before we, before we move on, the one thing I really appreciate is, is the collaborative energy, is the, like, is the, you know, the shared world building. It's, it's. It, you know, that, that, you know, there's so much, you know, there's so much as an improviser built around discovery and connecting to that discovery and listening to each other and experiencing that. You never have to worry about what the last time you did an improv show. You know, you don't have to worry about the continuity. But that's so interesting to be able to like, just live in the moment with, with, you know, your talented friends, discover the world and change the world and grow the world together. That's so exciting.

[Dan Casey]

When everyone taps into that same wavelength, it creates something that's really special in a way that I don't always find in other mediums. So one, you can tap into that. It's, it's always really enjoyable and I think that's something you folks have definitely tapped into with rude tales. So, yeah, I really appreciate it. So I want to ask you first, you know, we're talking about RPGs. What is your favorite TTRPG that you think is maybe slept on or underrated or should get some more shine? And Chris, we'll start with you.

[Christopher Hastings]

Okay. Mine is Merkborg or Mercury, depending on how Swedish you want to get about it. It's from Free League Publishing by Pella Nielsen and Johan Ignore. Merkborg is just so metal. It's, it's, it's so dark and it, but it's also just, it's so gleeful in how like, nihilistic it is. Just like every single way that the dice roll can go wrong is fun. There are so many specifics. The rule book is just, it's a gorgeous work of art.

[Dan Casey]

Beautiful.

[Christopher Hastings]

It is rules, light. It is heavy on atmosphere and just like it's a fun thing just to read on its own, as were all those Dragon magazines I read when I was a kid when I mostly didn't have people to play with. But yeah, I, I love Mirkborg.

[Joe Lepore]

Here's my. Here's my hard sell and good news, it's free when you're starting. If you're going away from Dungeons and Dragons, which you know, I would argue has a commanding market position with a lot of support with apps, with many supplemental materials with bountiful Google hits for any question you may have. Getting, getting your part, getting your group to play a thoughtfully written and lovingly crafted, you know, any, any, almost any other TTRPG that gets published is a true labor of love from someone. But like getting the buy in from your table. Yeah.

[Christopher Hastings]

I.

[Joe Lepore]

Building up to something. Thank you, Chris. Thank you for my collaborator. I love this collaboration. It's hard if you're saying, oh, we're gonna play a new game. You got to learn all these new rules. You gotta, you know, learn all these new mechanics. It actually uses a different kind of dice. You know, it's like there's a lot of like built in roadblocks to like getting people to a table to play. So my rec is which we use on Odyssey, those stars of space. Lasers and Feelings by John Harper if you ever want to like. I think it's a great gateway drug. It's so easy to pick up, it's so easy to learn the mechanics. It's a one pager, it's a free PDF and you can hack it into anything. There are lots of hacks available online, but like, you know, if you're like, if you want to get away from D and D, if you want to try something else, it's a great way to say like, oh, I'm gonna hack Lasers and Feelings into a Fast and the Furious campaign or a Fast and the Furious game. And then if everyone has fun, if everyone's excited about what you do there, you say, great, let's use this other. We're gonna make this a longer running thing. We're gonna make, you know, a longer campaign, a longer story. Let's use this other game. And now everyone at your table is already excited about the thing they already did that was super easy to pick up. They're invested to like try something a little more niche.

[Dan Casey]

That's a fantastic point. It's a phenomenal gateway because it is so simple. You just need basically a D6. And it's just very easy to wrap your head around. In our previous campaign that we did on Geek and Sundry, we did that for episode zero just to get everyone on board and start playing together. And it's just a really great way to get people to just start playing and just relax and have fun with it. So great. Great pick.

[Joe Lepore]

Thank you. Thank you. Dan. Dan. I will mention. Had no little. Had no little asides while I was.

[Christopher Hastings]

Talking, Chris and I on my mirkborg. I have to thank one Mr. Joe Lepore for getting me a copy of that book for my birthday several years ago.

[Joe Lepore]

You're welcome, bro.

[Dan Casey]

It's a. It's a hell of a birthday. I got. I got it for my birthday one year too. And it's such an incredibly designed book. Definitely looks amazing on a shelf and also great to play.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah, that's a great book if you just want a cool book to look at. It's so pretty.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

And badass.

[Dan Casey]

So final recommendation. It's game night. You've been tasked with bringing any game you want. People will read the rules, even if they're really complicated. What are you bringing and why?

[Christopher Hastings]

I'm bringing Mythic mischief. And we know Mythic Mischief, everybody. No, I got it for Christmas this year. It is a one on one strategy board game where each player controls a faction of students at a school for the vampires and wizards and Frankenstein monsters. And all of you are. You're entering a forbidden library and messing with the. The head librarian and trying to see who can steal books from the library while also trying to force the other team to be caught by the librarian. And the way that the game works is like each faction has different abilities on how they can sort of manipulate other the. The other players on the board and also sort of shift the bookshelves into different configurations to try to strategically force your opponent into the path of the librarian and get yourself into the path of snagging all the goodies you want and moving around.

[Dan Casey]

This sounds delightful.

[Christopher Hastings]

It's so fun.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah.

[Christopher Hastings]

Better than chess.

[Dan Casey]

Chess fans, Chess fans, you heard it here. Your game trash chess on blast.

[Joe Lepore]

I don't know if it's gonna make the next thousand years after this.

[Dan Casey]

Attack chess. Dogs falling.

[Joe Lepore]

Chess. Mortally wounded by Chris.

[Christopher Hastings]

Time of death saves chance. Have more vampires.

[Joe Lepore]

I guess would say checkmate. Here's the true answer. Is probably like code names, right?

[Christopher Hastings]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

I think.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

Yeah. I think if it's a hypothetical world where like, everyone has to play the game that I want to play and everyone's excited about it is a game I own and may never play in my lifetime because I may never find. You know, like I was talking about before as a boy, the critical mass of people that would be willing to do this with me is the game Diplomacy.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

Oh, man, I would love to play Diplomacy but It could take 12 hours. So you really gotta like, you really gotta be broken in the right way to want to, to want to dive in. For those that don't know, it's a, it's like a World War I war game where all of the turns happen blind. You all like put your turn, you put your like action in a box and they all get read simultaneously. And so the turns take very little time as the actions are read out. And then everyone leaves the board, leaves the table and goes off and argues in other rooms and discusses in other rooms and tries to convince everyone to work together to win.

[Christopher Hastings]

Joe, I think, I think this sounds like an excuse for you to like book a weekend thing to make this happen.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah, just get a cabin and some fellow board gaming sickos and.

[Christopher Hastings]

Or diplomacy.

[Dan Casey]

Solve, solve the crisis in Europe.

[Joe Lepore]

One day. One day it'll happen. I don't know. We'll see. I think you really, I mean, I think you really have to be the kind of person that's like sort of awed by the idea of a game maybe taking, you know, from sun up to sundown. You know, you can't be like most normal humans. That would be like, oh, that's gonna get boring an hour in.

[Christopher Hastings]

I think you know, enough. I, we know the same. I, I think you could do it.

[Dan Casey]

I don't know who you know, but I believe in you and I think you could. I mean, I, I know people that play Twilight Imperium and that just requires a level of iron will and fortitude and 12 unbroken hours that are hard to come by. But I commend them for finding that time and making that time to come together and play because what else are you gonna do?

[Joe Lepore]

God bless them.

[Dan Casey]

Yeah, everyone, they could, they could volunteer.

[Joe Lepore]

I suppose, but yeah, that's great.

[Dan Casey]

I would, but I'm busy for 12 hours playing Twilight Imperium or Diplomacy.

[Joe Lepore]

The Imperium isn't gonna fight itself. Come on.

[Dan Casey]

I have to leave the room and argue about what just happened. Chris, Joe, thank you again for joining us today. I really appreciate you both taking the time. Where can people find you both and rude Tales of Magic online. If in fact you want to be found.

[Joe Lepore]

Head to rudtalesofmagic.com head to your favorite podcatcher. We're on all of the social medias at rudetailsvrude, rudetails bluesky Social. We got, we got a bucket full of episodes. You know, we've got campaigns of many different lengths for you to, for you to sample and yeah, find us on the Internet. Baby.

[Christopher Hastings]

Yeah.

[Dan Casey]

Fantastic.

[Christopher Hastings]

Exactly what Joe said. There was no rude tales of magic before us. There's no brand confusion. You Google, you Google that. You duck, duck. Go it. You bing it. You'll find us.

[Joe Lepore]

Bang us. Bang us, people.

[Dan Casey]

Look on Lycos. He died, unfortunately. I think he died shortly after Princess Diana to bring things back around. Yeah, I know. He couldn't bear to go on. Ask me no further questions.

[Joe Lepore]

It's actually, you know, there's. There's a sort of like, you know, like Egyptian pharaohs, you know, burying their servants in the pyramid with them.

[Dan Casey]

Bury me with my AOL 1000 Hour CDs.

[Joe Lepore]

I need those minutes. I need all those minutes.

[Dan Casey]

My JPEG has not yet downloaded. All right, folks, thank you all for tuning in. You can find me here each and every week with another question, answers, talking to cool people for around the gaming world on geek and sundry's YouTube channel or wherever fine podcasts are served. And thank you again for listening. But for now, folks, tell us, what games are you playing this week? What are you most excited to introduce to your table? Let us know in the comments below and we'll see you folks next time. Bye bye.

[Joe Lepore]

Nothing is as it seems in liminal London. Hidden amongst everyday people are werewolves.

[Christopher Hastings]

You'll be the werewolf then, yeah? I'm Mags Wizards Montgomery Archibald Barker at your bloody service.

[Joe Lepore]

And those cursed by the fey monarchs.

[Christopher Hastings]

Of the city, Declan Buchanan, PI he has quite a large pair of antlers growing out of his forehead.

[Joe Lepore]

Join the unlikely misfits of Liminal London.

[Christopher Hastings]

As they work to take down the.

[Joe Lepore]

Powers that claim to rule the city.

[Christopher Hastings]

I think the queen doesn't like you very much.

[Joe Lepore]

With incredible guest players like Johnny Chiadini.

[Dan Casey]

You say there's sludge? Yeah. Sludge. Yeah.

[Joe Lepore]

I'm the sludge boy.

[Christopher Hastings]

F ing love Sludge boy.

[Dan Casey]

No, again, I'm not that sludge boy.

[Joe Lepore]

Grant Howard.

[Dan Casey]

Isaac Newton didn't study in f ing Putney, did he?

[Christopher Hastings]

Who's Isaac?

[Joe Lepore]

Oh, my God. And Sharmini Bundell?

[Christopher Hastings]

There's a magic community. There is. Yay. I'm in a magic community.

[Joe Lepore]

Go to realmspod.com or search realms of peril and glory wherever you listen to podcasts to find this mysteriously magical actual play series. Welcome to the ultimate social deduction game.

[Christopher Hastings]

Blood on the Clock Tower. The evil team must stalk the streets.

[Joe Lepore]

At night, hunting down members of the good team one by one. Meanwhile, the good team must outmaneuver the.

[Dan Casey]

Evil team using their unique abilities.

[Joe Lepore]

I'd like to kick things off by telling you all that I'm possibly the demon. Our players can mislead and manipulate others with absolute freedom.

[Dan Casey]

I didn't like hearing my name in.

[Joe Lepore]

The same sentence as demon. That was very upsetting for me. Emily and I will be your storytellers, guiding you through every labyrinthian twist and turn. How are there so many evil players in this game?

[Christopher Hastings]

What's happening with guests from no Rules.

[Joe Lepore]

Bard, the Pandemonium Institute, and Oxventure? You won't be able to stop listening. Go to realmspod.com clocktower to find out more.

[Christopher Hastings]

American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences decades or even hundreds of years after they happened. On the Infamous America podcast, you'll hear the true stories of the Salem witch trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz, of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles Starkweather, of mysteries like the Black Dahlia and D.B. cooper, and of events that inspired movies like Goodfellas, Killers of the Flower Moon, Zodiac, Eight Men out, and many more. I'm Chris Wimmer. Join me as we crisscross the country, from the Miami drug wars and Dixie Mafia in the south to mobsters in Chicago and New York, to arsonists, kidnappers, and killers in California, to unsolved mysteries in the heartland and in remote corners of Alaska. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music, and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge. Find Infamous America Wherever you get your podcasts.