Thankless Roll Players

The largest battle we've ever undertaken continues, in part four of our playthrough of the classic TSR giants module.

Part 3 of our level 4 DCC playthrough of Gary Gygax's original 1978 D&D giants adventure. It's starting to get a little epic around here.

By the grace of Rance and Clint Howard, the party ventures deeper into the steading of the hill giants. Will they be any match for what horrors lie inside? Can they withstand Rob's terrible puns? Find out as we continue our DCC playthrough of Gary Gygax's D&D classic.

Join us as we play the very first Dungeons & Dragons adventure module published by TSR way back in 1978. What could be more fun? Why, playing it as a level 4 DCC adventure, of course! Other podcasts may be slicker, younger and prettier than us. But what other TTRPG actual play is going to teach you about the works of Rance and Clint Howard?

This week we take a shambling and rambling look at Green Ronin's forthcoming "Fifth Season" roleplaying game, based on N.K. Jemisin's multi-award winning "Broken Earth" trilogy.

"This is a really long playthrough" we hear you say. "When does it end?" Firstly, HOW DARE YOU? Secondly, it ends RIGHT HERE, in the final episode of our 5e actual play of Gary Gygax's intro to the Temple of Elemental Evil, The Village Of Hommlet.

The sound of a dozen tramping, armored feet, followed by an ungodly thunderclap and a mysterious, thick mist billowing through the gaps surrounding it. This door's probably safe to open, right? Right? We continue our 5e playthrough of Gary Gygax's "The Village of Hommlet".

We take a break from Hommlet with a jaunt underground in Harley Stroh's level 3 DCC adventure. It's only six pages long! How hard can it be?

On a rare evening that we have a full complement of players, the party once more ventures into the bowels of the moat house, to investigate what lies beyond the two secret doors.

Our 5e playthrough of the Gygax classic continues.

We take a quick look at what's in Breaker Press Games' Stennard setting for the Dungeon Crawl Classics TTRPG. https://breakerpress.storenvy.com/ https://goodman-games.com/store/product-category/breaker-press-games/?srsltid=AfmBOooUdLa8EixVJoec0apWpBuMQVX0rwz0b8tMMvKhQ5b-cD3ZV1iT

The so-called abandoned moat house begins to reveal a threat to the village of Hommlet far greater than mere bandits, as the party ventures below ground, in the fourth part of our 5e playthrough of the Gary Gygax classic D&D module.

In a fit of productivity (don't get used to it) we give you the third installment of our 5e playthrough of the Gary Gygax classic, "The Village of Hommlet". Having regrouped at the village, the party venture once more into the ruined moat house. This time, they are certain they shall face a basilisk, or worse, their true selves (just kidding - a basilisk).

The party ventures east of the village of Hommlet, and finally investigate the ruined moat house, only to find that the abandoned ruins may not be so abandoned after all.

We kick off our SIXTH season (??!!!) with a 5e playthrough of Gary Gygax's classic module "The Village of Hommlet". There's a village. There's a shifty priest. There's a ruined moat house. Everything is fine. SUBSCRIBE LIKE SHARE COMMENT

Having awoken deep within the mausoleum of the Onyx Queen's opulent palace, can our survivors unravel the so-called merciful monarch's horrible dark secret? Spoiler alert: our final episode of 2024 is just under 30 minutes long. Apologies in advance for some minor audio issues during this episode.

What's that you say? All you want for Christmas is a new Thankless Roll Players episode? Well, okay then...

Having made their blood sacrifice, our intrepid party of inept rabble venture deep into the horror-filled corridors of the Temple of Herlezzect (yeah, we can't pronounce it either) in the concluding part of our playthrough of Nick Baran's "The Precipice of Corruption" for Dungeon Crawl Classics. Get it here: https://breakerpress.storenvy.com/?osky_origin=googlepla&osky_source=cpc&osky_campaign=PMAX_Storenvy_MP_No_Assets&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwpbi4BhByEiwAMC8JnS7zj7aHYy-zeoKfXPKjqg0NNTb8aOMqz0jC6TNa-WAF3E2vWGBcXRoCSGIQAvD_BwE

The town of Stennard finds itself in desperate need. The crops have failed and famine is imminent. In a bold effort to save the town, the constable sends their best hunters in search of game, treading into the forbidden lands to the west. But when they fail to return, only an unseemly mob of cutthroats and fortune seekers are willing to take on the task. Come with us to the Mangled Hills as we take on Nick Baran's "The Precipice of Corruption" for Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Something is amiss in the town of Fairhaven. It's the night before the regional roller derby championship, and our beloved local team are acting decidedly out of character. Can cable access hosts Jake Tooley, Link Thickneck, Erasmus Polk, and Captain Puddles get to the bottom of things and save the day before it's too late? Of course they can, for these are no ordinary tv hosts - they are the Weird Heroes of Public Access!

The operatives undertake a somewhat legal contract for the Bloodcutters - transporting a body containing valuable experimental organs across the Wash. But there's a slight snag. It appears somebody else also wants those organs, and will stop at nothing to get them, as we continue our playthrough of "Cities Without Number".

A saxaboom plays a forlorn space jazz tune as the sun fails to rise yet again over the sprawling technopolis known as the Wash. Our band of operatives undertake their first heist, stealing a cult guarded processor from a shadowy corporation, in our continuing playthrough of Cities Without Number.

Harold the Forest Druid, the thief Tomi Tynglefingers, aided once more by Timothy the Immolator, and their new friend Growly Pete, are hired on by a high priestess of the Iron King to breach a mysterious stone demon head atop a hill overlooking a village and retrieve an artifact she apparently can't just get herself. What could go wrong?

Download the free rulebook and form-fillable character sheet (https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/449873/Cities-Without-Number-Free-Version), and follow along as Rob guides us through character creation in Kevin Crawford's sandbox cyberpunk TTRPG "Cities Without Number".

After almost half a century has Gary Gygax's legendary demilich Acererak finally met his match at the hands of the fearless and cunning Thankless Roll Players? What do you think?

The party honor Gary Gygax by making some spectacularly bad decisions in the second episode of our three part (so far...) playthrough of "Tomb of Horrors".

For our 100th episode, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, we tackle Gary Gygax's classic 1975 dungeon crawl "Tomb of Horrors". But why tackle this notoriously unbeatable dungeon as high level D&D characters, when you can send in a bunch of Dungeon Crawl Classics zeroes? Will our heroes survive? Of course not. But we guarantee a rollicking good time while they do!

We descend one last time into the stench-filled caverns beneath the Curwen Homestead to find out once and for all the fate that has befallen the family, in our fumble-filled final fling of Daniel J. Bishop's "The Arwich Grinder" for Dungeon Crawl Classics TTRPG.

The party decides to explore the Curwen House in our second of our three episode playthrough of Daniel J. Bishop's "The Arwich Grinder" for Dungeon Crawl Classics. NOTE: This episode is not for the squeamish.

Better bring a sick bag, as the party heads deep into the pines to come to the aid of a family in peril, in the first part of our playthrough of Daniel J. Bishop's genuinely unnerving zero level funnel, "The Arwich Grinder".

Up to their necks in beastmen, the party slash their way onwards and upwards through the mysterious obelisk threatening the village of Hirot. Unlucky dips, a showdown with the bizarre Lantern Master, and wedding bells are in the air, as we conclude our playthrough of Harley Stroh's level 1 adventure "Shadow of the Beakmen".

We kick off our FIFTH season fashionably late and up to our necks in the blood of our enemies, as our heroes return victorious to Hirot with the head of the monstrous Hound in hand, only to find the village ablaze and overrun with giant lizard mounted knights and hideously deformed humanoids, as we play Harley Stroh's level one adventure "Shadow of the Beakmen".

For our final episode of 2023 we leave you with our double length Holiday Thumptacular - Marzio Muscedere's Christmas cracker, "The Doom That Came To Christmas Town" for Dungeon Crawl Classics. Hope to see you all in 2024. Bring your friends!

Armed with the fabled wolf spear, the party returns to the village of Hirot to face down the Hound, in the conclusion of our playthrough of Harley Stroh's "Doom of the Savage Kings" for Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Our thief - and consequently our good listeners - learns a valuable lesson about luck, and our elf and cleric get quite salty in our swearingest, most hair raising (literally) installment so far, as we play part 4 of our "Doom of the Savage Kings" 5 parter.

Come celebrate Thanksgiving with us as our flock of turkeys descend into the Serpent Tomb of the Ulfheonar and discover the magic of the season...or something...in part three of our playthrough of Harley Stroh's "Doom of the Savage Kings" for Dungeon Crawl Classics.

More than a little worse for wear after their misguided attempt to follow the Hound into the Sunken Fens, our heroes seek aid at the village of Hirot. Much intrigue, and more singing than should be allowed, ensues. The mystery deepens, in episode two of our playthrough of Harley Stroh's "Doom of the Savage Kings" for Dungeon Crawl Classics.

The Hound of the Baskervilles meets Beowulf meets a group of big dumb nerds, as we delve into Harley Stroh's classic level 1 adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics, "Doom of the Savage Kings". Join us as we go everywhere except the safety of the village, and gasp as we bungle our way incorrectly through the DCC "recover the body" rules (spoiler alert - there will be casualties).

Our hopeless band of peasants continue to press their luck in "The Hole in the Sky". It's episode 13. What can go wrong?

The swift and unexpected finale of our playthrough of Goodman Games' classic murder dungeon "Crypt of the Devil Lich" for Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Having survived the first chamber, our valiant party ventures even deeper into the Crypt of the Devil Lich. Spinning rooms, pressure plates, confused ghosts, and more traps than you could shake a ten foot pole at. We continue our second of three playthroughs (spoiler alert) of Goodman Games' classic murder dungeon for Dungeon Crawl Classics.

We recklessly plunge into Goodman Games' notorious murder dungeon, "Crypt of the Devil Lich" with little to no preparation. The inevitable ensues. Part one of three. Our GM was battling the effects of Canadian wildfire smoke, so apologies for the occasional hoarseness and lozenge sucking.

Finally the finale of the grand finale. Unedited, so apologies in advance for dead air, mumbles, tangents and cusses.

Befitting the trend of splitting all series finales in two (and not at all due to lack of time to do any editing), and making the audience wait an unduly long time for those parts, we present the first part of the final installment of our playthrough of "Court of Blades". It's probably worth the wait.

The gang continues their task of destroying the good name of another house via the weapon of theatre, but not before discussing how to once and for all rid themselves of a particularly bothersome thorn in their side, as we continue our playthrough of a Couple of Drakes' "Court of Blades".

Our sporadic games of Dungeon World continue, as our druid, thief and barbarian tackle a shimmering mage's tower in the middle of a forest. Trampolining, rapping, Cronenberg-esque body horror? This episode has everything. But definitely not an owlbear. Apologies in advance for some choppy audio here and there.

We continue our efforts to further the cause of House Bastien, and our status within it, in the vibrant, sprawling city-state of Ilrien, as we continue our playthrough of A Couple Of Drakes' "Court of Blades". https://acoupleofdrakes.itch.io/

Come with us to the vibrant, sprawling city-state of Ilrien, as we follow the trials and tribulations of upstart House Bastien, as they try to scale society's ladder by any means necessary, in our first full session of A Couple Of Drakes' "Court of Blades". https://acoupleofdrakes.itch.io/court-of-blades CONTENT WARNING: Drug use and brief descriptions of graphic violence.

Sixteen foolish peasants who foolishly believe they were born for greater things, foolishly take the word of a mysterious woman in blue that if they foolishly step off a cliff onto an invisible bridge and go to a prison in a hole in the sky, and foolishly fight a titan, then all of their wishes will come true. The foolish peasants foolishly do so. The fools!

Given that two of our favorite games of the last year were Greg Stolze's "Dueling Fops of Vindamere" and John Harper's "Blades in the Dark", how could we resist a beast such as Shawn & Navi Drake's "Court of Blades" - a game of scheming nobles, court magicians, and dashing duelists, set in the fantasy Renaissance-era (or as Jenni calls it "Opera") city-state of Ilrien. Rob gives us an overview of the game, and leads us through house and character creation - all in just under an hour - in our session zero of "Court of Blades" https://acoupleofdrakes.itch.io/court-of-blades

The magi of Tagalyn and their rescue party arrive at the plague-stricken covenant of Ad Vis Per Veritas, but do not receive the welcome they were expecting, as we continue our learn-to-play playthrough of the classic Ars Magica adventure "Black Death". https://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG0205 https://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG0813