MASTERING ACTION ECONOMY - Randomly generate an NPC your players will hate...
Release Date: 03/30/2025
PLANESCAPE POSTMORTEM 2 - Featuring Existential Dread, Multiversal Collapse, and a Quasit with a Lot of Opinions
The RPGBOT.Podcast
What do you get when you mix a disappearing god, a multiverse glitch, and a talking squirrel? Apparently, therapy. Show Notes: In this second helping of the Ash Ely Planescape Postmortem, the hosts dissect the juicy narrative meat of a campaign marinated in memory loss, Mind Flayers, and metaphysical trauma. From the desperate hunt for Orochalcum to the chaos of battling Cathraxus (yes, that Cathraxus), our hosts recount the highs, lows, and emotional collateral damage of storytelling across the planes. The episode dives deep into the decisions that shaped the campaign—like letting players...
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PLANESCAPE, AN RPGBOT.POSTMORTEM - Asher's Weird, Wonderful Multiverse
The RPGBOT.Podcast
In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, the hosts gather for a postmortem discussion on Ash Ely’s recent Planescape campaign—a wild ride through the Outer Planes where philosophy hits like a fireball and bureaucracy is deadlier than any dragon. With plenty of laughs and genuine reflection, the crew discusses their favorite moments, mechanical experiments, player decisions, and the challenges of storytelling in a setting where time is subjective, death is optional, and your base of operations might just be a sentient castle. This is a deep-dive into what makes a great campaign weirdly...
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ABBERATIONS: Nothing says 'Fun Game Night' like Psychic Trauma!
The RPGBOT.Podcast
In this Remastered Episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, we summon the horrors that make your players ask, ‘Can I roll to nope?’ In this episode, the RPGBOT.Podcast team delves into the weird, the squishy, and the utterly incomprehensible world of Aberrations—those delightful horrors that break the rules of reality and challenge players’ expectations. From Mind Flayers to Gibbering Mouthers, the hosts explore how these creatures can be used to discomfort, disorient, and delight your game table. Whether you’re looking to run a horror campaign, design a disturbing encounter, or just want to...
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HORROR SUBCLASSES - D&D UA 2025: Screams from the Spreadsheet
The RPGBOT.Podcast
New horror subclasses just dropped, and we’re here to reanimate them, roast them, and regret reading the action economy aloud. Support our friends at , because your dungeon shouldn't look like it was sketched during a Zoom call. Show Notes In this episode, the RPGBOT crew proves that horror isn’t just for the subclasses—it’s also in trying to sync microphones. After wrestling with some haunted audio gremlins, the hosts dive headfirst into the latest Unearthed Arcana drop from Wizards of the Coast, which brings a trio of spooky new subclass options to the D&D table. First up: the...
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STARFINDER GALAXY GUIDE REVIEWED! - Space is Weird, Math is Hard, Let's Play Anyway
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Crack open your Core Rulebook, dump stat Charisma, and calibrate your resolve points—because it’s time to roll initiative against entropy itself with the Starfinder Galaxy Guide, where space is weird, and the rules are weirder. This episode is brought to you by —because your players will never know you prepped their dungeon during the loading screen of Baldur’s Gate 3. In this multidimensional episode of The RPGBOT.Podcast, the hosts open with an honest and humorous take on Mother's Day, Father's Day, and the emotional nuances surrounding both. The discussion then shifts into exciting...
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EVIL CHARACTERS (Remastered) - Dubious (anti)heroics
The RPGBOT.Podcast
If your evil character isn’t at least pretending to be helpful, they’re not evil—they’re just unemployed. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, the hosts dive deep into the dark, morally murky world of evil characters in tabletop RPGs. With Ash leading the charge, the conversation focuses on how to play a character with evil tendencies without destroying the game, the party, or your friendships. The hosts explore different shades of evil alignments, the narrative value of morally compromised PCs, and offer practical advice on how to maintain group cohesion when one of the players...
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OTHER WORLDS 3 RECAP - The Great Pizza Debate
The RPGBOT.Podcast
From pizza to invisibility puzzles and rogue mechanics, Episode 3 of Other Worlds takes you on a whirlwind ride through culinary hot takes, heist mechanics, and the joys (and pains) of Pathfinder 2. In Episode 3 of Other Worlds, the RPGBOT.Podcast team serves up a delightfully chaotic mix of culinary hot takes and deep tabletop RPG insights. Randall makes a chicken Caesar abomination. Tyler admits that he enjoys pineapple on pizza. The pizza talk eventually turns toward more tabletop territory, but not before a quick anecdote about a friend with a professional pizza oven makes...
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OTHER WORLDS 3 - Reflections, Revelations, and Really Weird Drinks
The RPGBOT.Podcast
This episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast is brought to you by Dungeon Flow. – Because your dungeon deserves more than graph paper and panic. In Episode 3 of Other Worlds, the RPGBOT crew mixes magical mayhem with mundane mischief. What begins with a hilarious debate on olives and grooming spirals into a multi-layered roleplaying session filled with stealthy maneuvers, magical puzzles, and mirrored mysteries. The players explore the social dynamics of fantasy bartending, wrestle with illusions and invisibility, and uncover a portal to a parallel world that forces them to confront questions of...
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LANGUAGES (Remastered) - Perfect for Parties that Talk First and Think Later
The RPGBOT.Podcast
In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, the hosts dive deep into the often-overlooked tool of language in tabletop RPGs—how it shapes worlds, defines characters, and enhances immersion. Whether it’s a dwarven curse word, a whispered draconic threat, or a gnomish pun that lands like a rock in a puddle, the power of language can turn a good campaign into an unforgettable one. The discussion explores the practical, narrative, and mechanical implications of language in TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. The hosts share ideas for incorporating multilingualism into your campaign...
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W40K IMPERIUM MALEDICTUM HTP 4 - Episode Recap and How to Play Discussion
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Ever wonder what happens when you mix dark gods, self-driving cars, and a dysfunctional team of grimdark misfits with questionable decision-making skills? Welcome to the Warhammer 40K actual play recap you didn't know you needed. Episode Summary In this delightfully chaotic recap, the RPGBOT crew careens through a whirlwind of topics, from the pending excitement of new Pathfinder 2 classes to the mechanized nightmare of self-driving job loss. But the star of the show? A deep dive into the ridiculous, horrifying, and sometimes oddly comedic world of Warhammer 40k: Imperium Maledictum. The gang...
info_outlineAre your players constantly asking, “Can I do that on my turn?” Are you tired of DMs crying over bonus actions and stunned conditions? Do you wake up at night wondering if Pathfinder 2 just does it better?
In this episode, we dive deep into the tactical jungle that is action economy in TTRPGs. From the stripped-down speed of 5E to the glorious chaos of Pathfinder 2’s three-action system, we break down what works, what doesn’t, and what might just break your game (in the best way).
We cover:
- Why random encounters might be the most underrated tool in your GM toolbox.
- The real reason 5E’s action economy feels like fighting with one hand tied behind your back.
- How Pathfinder 2 turned “You get 3 actions” into a strategy masterclass.
- What the Stormlight Archive RPG is doing that’s weird... but kinda brilliant.
- Why status effects like stunned, slowed, and “oh no, not again” are actually game-defining.
- The math behind multiple attacks—and why it’s both a blessing and a curse.
- How to level up your online roleplay with better gear, stronger communication, and less awkward silences.
This isn’t just crunch—it’s a full-blown mechanics buffet, with hot takes, cooler heads, and a few unfiltered truths about what makes combat fun (or unbearable).
If you’ve ever cared about how your character moves, strikes, or just desperately tries not to die in initiative order, this episode’s for you.
Tactical Takeaways from the RPGBOT.Podcast
- Random encounters create chaos—and legends.
- The action economy makes or breaks your game’s strategy.
- 5E’s simplicity can be limiting. Pathfinder 2 says: “Hold my initiative tracker.”
- Free actions are powerful. Use them like seasoning—sparingly but effectively.
- Multi-attack penalties exist for balance—but they still sting.
- Status conditions aren’t just flavor text. They’re battlefield game-changers.
- Pathfinder 2 isn’t just complex—it’s elegant, once you speak its crunchy language.
- Stormlight Archive RPG is a sleeper hit in action design.
- Want better online games? Start with better audio and stronger player connections.
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How to Find Us:
In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net
Tyler Kamstra
Ash Ely
Randall James
Producer Dan