Craig Hatler comes on to talk about his game Shadowlight and Personae, and what he’s learned about more effectively communicating rules when learning and teaching RPGs.

Sybil ventures out into the Dungeons again and makes an unexpected discovery when attempting to save a stranger from spectral chains.

Rene & Lynn make good on their promise to play a Halloween episode of Star Crossed as a House and the Ghost that haunts it, and somehow it works!

Can't forget to do a solo one-shot for spooky month, so here is my one-player one-shot experience of Spellbook by DValeris a.k.a. Edaureen Muhamad Nor! This game is based on a familiar game from last year's holiday one-shots, Bucket Of Bolts by Jason Price and uses the Lost & Found SRD to simulate the life of a sentient spellbook that is past down through the hands of witches over three Acts. It was a very fun session and I fully admit I fall hard into stereotypical Rene tropes (sorry not sorry).   Definitely give this and more of Edaureen's games a look!   Also, shout out and check out friend of the show C.R. Rowenson's new LitRPG book Spawn Point, Book 1 of the New Eternity series! And if you want to watch me and some other creators play a short TTRPG series in that world, check out Clark's YouTube channel - The Magic Engineer!   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands Elder Magic by Vindsvept Kingdom of Mist by TabletopAudio.com Mushroom Forest by TabletopAudio.com Witches Dance by TabletopAudio.com Dark Future by TabletopAudio.com Pieces of a Memory by Vindsvept Daybreak by Vindsvept

Sybil explores the capital of the Dungeons - the Hanging City of Oubliette!

Kate the Great joins to talk Don’t Kill My Character, cosplay, and not being afraid to dive deep into character.

Rene streams a one-shot of Grant Howitt’s The Witch Is Dead with the OG homies DMs After Dark!

Sybil and her two new rookling companions exit the Cistern and enter the Dungeons.

Rene wanders the infinite halls of the library in Almost Bedtime Theater’s The Librarian’s Apprentice!

Rene played a video game, and a game of the year contender at that! Let’s talk Clair Obscur: Expedition 33!

Sybil and her new little ice rookling friend navigate their way through the major labyrinth The Cistern.

Willow comes on to talk about finding the right game for you when branching out beyond D&D and into the world of TTRPGs!

Rene begins a new series of Colostle, exploring the new Dungeons release!

Let’s talk about the breakout litRPG series Dungeon Crawler Carl and how it can make your TTRPG campaigns better!

Let's do another one-player one-shot!   This time it's BOW by the design duo (and team at) Hatchlings Games!   BOW is a solo journaling game that uses the Carta SRD by Peach Garden Games, much like Hatchlings' other solo game Dragon Dowser (which you can hear me play in the backlog!). In BOW, you play a Praeloran diver going out in an annual competition known as The Shoaling, a grueling sailing race between strong candidates on the hunt for relics to bring back to their city and make it to their marker and back first.    In this one-shot, I play the underdog Dominic Eisenia, a short, underdeveloped youth going out for the Shoaling against much more physically capable rivals, but he has an edge in his cleverness and determination. Can he make it to his Marker and find any interesting relics? Will Dominic be crowned champion of this year's Shoaling?!   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Windswept Realms, Vol. III by Vindsvept

Time for another one-player one-shot!   This is Two-Hand Path, a modern roll-and-write dungeon crawler by Mikey Hamm, designer of Slugblaster. In Two-Hand Path you play a mage searching the cursed ruins of a post-fall city for loot and power after a supernatural war left everything destroyed.    The mechanics use Yahtzee-style combinations with a full set of polyhedral dice, sending you through very simple but deadly dungeons with time pressure and limited HP before you "surge," after which every roll is a gamble for points and power.    The character sheet is just your two hands (or a drawing of two hands, if you're a coward) which you'll cover in tattoos, rings, scars, and more as you shape your spells and unleash your magic against the remnants of the world.   It's. Awesome. Get Two-Hand Path here.   ----more---- Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode (in order of appearance): Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Cassidy, Leigh, and the Captain confront the curse at the center of the isles.

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   This special 1st of the month Perspective Checks episode is with Mat of Role Play Chat, a similar interview-style TTRPG discussion podcast which I think you'll enjoy if you like these episodes!   Mat comes on to talk about the wonder of GM-less games, how they foster collaboration and shared storytelling, including romance in your games, and his new game First Date Update, where you play two characters who just went on a date and their friends as they try and figure out why one of you is ghosting the other, and whether or not they can work to get you both face to face to potentially go on another date or come clean.   This episode has lots of fun ideas, one of which you may have heard me discuss in my recent design episode - a character relationship matrix idea that can be used at any table to track your character's relationship with NPCs/other PCs!   Hope you enjoy, and go check out First Date Update on RPC Press's itch.io page!   ----more----   Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   2 New MECH Cities Out Now (& Free!)   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Rene plays through one of the two new MECH Cities - Hraunvollr!

I've heard people like this, so here's an update on some of the games I've got rattling around in my brain, in GoogleDocs, and in various levels of development on notebook pages, sticky notes, and half formed notes on my phone.   If any of these sound like they're games you'd love to play, please let me know so I can get on it and see if I can't put out something you'll love!   Looking forward to working on these more & hopefully hearing from all of you. May all your games go great! ----more----   Join the DMs After Dark Discord channel!   2 New MECH Cities Out Now (& Free!)   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark Rene's Games: MECH | MECH Cities 2 | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Lucid Dreaming by | e s c p | https://www.escp.spacehttps://escp-music.bandcamp.com