Rene Plays Games

The adventure begins.

 

Iorlas, Ranger of the North, Dunedain, descendant of Numenor, leaves the Grey Havens in spring on a quest from Cirdan, the Shipwright to investigate a blight on the sacred trees with which the elves build the ships that ferry the elves on to Valinor upon their departure from Middle Earth.

 

On his way through the Shire to head south to the ruins of Eryn Vorn, Iorlas runs into Gandalf the Grey, who has his own quest for the Ranger. To the north, in the ruins of Fornost Erain, the ancient capital of the Dunedain, the shadow has lured other Men, Rangers who have not returned.

 

Iorlas opts to head north to save the Men who have less time than the trees to the south, but quickly runs into opposition once he leaves the Shire...

 

Learn more about The One Ring 2e by Free League Publishing.

 

----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 | I Know I Know You, But I Don't Know How...

email: [email protected]

 

Music in the Episode (in order of appearance):

Veiled in Light by Vindsvept

Lush World by Tabletop Audio

Middle Earth: Dawn by Tabletop Audio

Halfling Lodge by Tabletop Audio

Blighted Forest by Tabletop Audio

Goblin Ambush by Tabletop Audio

Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Another episode of Tabletop Tutorial, where I'm joined by a guest to learn a new game together, one-on-one!

 

This time I'm joined by my wife, Lynn, for more Lynnsanity. She recently bought me a zine by Wolf Manzella a.k.a. Wyrd Wolf Entertainment called Dick Wizards! Yes, you read that right, and what a title! It's provocative, it gets the people going!

 

Now temper those thoughts, because this is a game about apprentice wizard detectives in the city of Providence, Rhode Island investigating Lovecraftian Cthulhu mythos in the form of crime and strange happenings around the city. On brand, Lynn keeps it real wild, and I think we had a great time playing this game.

 

I highly recommend checking this zine out, it has some really cool mechanics with tarot cards, spellcasting, and creating enemies!

 

Hope you enjoy, and I hope it makes you crave some Rhode Island specific food (somehow we didn't mention our amazing seafood even once, just the junk food).

 

----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 | I Know I Know You, But I Don't Know How...

email: [email protected]

 

Music in the Episode (in order of appearance):

Recap by Monument Studios

_Dark 1 Hour Mix by Monument Studios

Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Good day to you, I say, fair folk of the internet, and welcome to the character creation episode for my next solo podcast series of The One Ring 2e by Free League Publishing.

 

This is a short episode I'm putting out because things have gotten a little out of control here in March for me, and will continue to be for April, so please be patient with my episode releases for the next month and a half, but!

 

Let's make a character for a new game! If you want to add ideas or throw out potential cool locations/scenes/anything from your favorite bits of Middle Earth lore, be sure to join me for my 2nd Twitch Stream coming up Monday March 30th!

 

Anyway, hopefully I get the rules of this character creation right, but we have the following cool guy for this upcoming series:

 

Iorlas, Ranger of the North, Dunedain & descendant of the Numenoreans that sailed to the shores of Middle Earth fleeing the fall of Numenor. He is a capable Ranger, a Messenger that travels the land to spread word and ensure that the Free Folk of the world are ready for the spreading shadow from Mordor...

 

He wields a famous ancient blade of the Numenoreans known as Nimloth's Tear, foe-slaying blade to Evil Men and Undead, forged to harken the silver light of Telperion of old, what would be the light of the white tree of Gondor.

 

Very excited to tell a story in Middle Earth! I hope you're excited to hear :)

 

----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 | I Know I Know You, But I Don't Know How...

email: [email protected]

 

Music in the Episode (in order of appearance):

Windswept Realms Vol. III by Vindsvept

Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Welcome back to the monthly design diaries series of 2026 where I am holding myself accountable toward putting out more games.

 

We're back to talk more Gardens of Rust, the post-catastrophe survival and community rebuilding game by myself and Christian from the DMs After Dark. 

 

In episode 3 I go over the usual responsibilities and role of the GM. Calling for rolls, how to prep (minimally, because I'm not a prep kind of GM), and the kinds of things a GM would be doing during the Player & Community Phases.

 

This episode also has a mini-example of play with the two characters we made in the last Design Diaries. Nothing crazy comes up, but maybe next time (the last time for Gardens of Rust?) we'll do a combat or more involved example of play.

 

Please email or join the DMs After Dark Discord server to tell me about the kind of character you'd make for a post-collapse game so we can make it together! I want to start playtesting this game more with new players, so maybe we can set something up on the Discord.

 

----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 | I Know I Know You, But I Don't Know How...

email: [email protected]

 

Music in the Episode (in order of appearance):

Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Apologies for Laurence's Audio in this episode, the recording was a little strange when it exported from our video call, but I did the best I could. If you have any questions, please message or email me! (Or reach out to Laurence!)

 

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 episode is an early interview for Laurence's upcoming Kickstarter for his Italian horror/mystery cinema inspired Il Fantasma Del Giallo, a game about the actors, their roles, and the thinning line of reality and fiction! It's a neo-noir slasher inspired TTRPG that has some really interesting framing and mechanics, I am looking forward to see how it plays at the table!

 

You can find more of Laurence's games on the Hardy Roach Games itch.io page, or check out his BlueSky thread about giallo movies on his BlueSky.

 

Some movies to watch if you want to experience classic giallo include:

Deep Red by Dario Argento

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage by Dario Argento

Blood & Black Lace by Mario Bava

The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Mario Bava

 

----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 | I Know I Know You, But I Don't Know How...

email: [email protected]

 

Music in the Episode (in order of appearance):

Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands