On A Roll

The Podcast that helps you Level Up Your RPG!

About the show

The On A Roll podcast focuses on better storytelling, better playing and better community through the belief that the only way to win an RPG is to have fun, so Ryan, Carie and Jason are sharing their experiences to help you spend more time winning! Join the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite as they talk about tabletop gaming, LARPing, MUSHing and keeping your investment in check.

Join us on Facebook and let us know your thoughts on the show, gaming and having more fun!

If you like the show, help support our production and keep us going by supporting On A Roll on Patreon.

On A Roll on social media

Episodes and Blog Entries

  • The White Wolf Dilemma 2

    Article  |  December 31st, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    by night studios, crisis, geeks, larp, roleplaying games, rpg, vampire, white wolf, world of darkness

    In the last three years, White Wolf has found itself repeatedly mired in controversy. It's happened again this week. What would Ryan see done to fix it?

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 9: Mechanical Difficulties

    Article  |  October 21st, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    d&d, d6, fate, game developer, gaming, indie game design, masks, mechanics, roleplaying, rpg, star trek, star wars, system, the gun belt

    In the latest installment of Ryan's developer diary about his independent rpg, The Gun Belt, he shares insight into how the Part and Parcel character and mechanic system was developed.

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 8: Tempting Fate

    Article  |  August 26th, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    d6, fate, game developer, gaming, indie game design, mechanics, roleplaying, rpg, system, the gun belt

    Part eight of Ryan's Developer's Diary about the creation of the independent RPG, The Gun Belt, looks at the decision to use Fate as the mechanical system for the game and why that didn't work out. Find out why The Gun Belt moved to the D6 system before finally landing in an original mechanics system.

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 7: Which Came First, The Dino or the Dice?

    Article  |  August 7th, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    dice, fate, game developer, game theory, gaming, indie game design, kids on bikes, roleplaying, rpg, star wars, systems, the gun belt, vampire

    Part seven of Ryan's Developer's Diary about the creation of the independent RPG, The Gun Belt, follows the initial design decisions concerning how to balance creating the world with creating the mechanics. Which comes first? Dinos or dice?

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 6: Tables and Contents

    Article  |  July 29th, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    beginning, content, game developer, gaming, indie game design, roleplaying, rpg, table of contents, the gun belt

    In the sixth edition of Ryan's Developer's Diary about the creation of his independent RPG, The Gun Belt, he shares the process of figuring out where to begin and figuring out what to put in the book.

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 5: The Name of the Game

    Article  |  July 22nd, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    game developer, gaming, indie game design, roleplaying, rpg, the gun belt, titles

    Ryan shares more insight into the development of his independent roleplaying game, "The Gun Belt." In this week's diary, he talks about the difficult but important process of deciding what to call your game, and about why the name of your game matters so much.

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 4: Four Questions About Your Game

    Article  |  July 15th, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    game developer, gaming, indie game design, questions, research, roleplaying, rpg, the gun belt

    Ryan's developer's diary continues to probe the behind the scenes world of The Gun Belt. This week, he explores the Three (or Four) Questions about roleplaying games that every designer needs to help guide them through the weeds.

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 3: Play Games to Make Games

    Article  |  July 8th, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    game developer, gaming, indie game design, research, roleplaying, rpg, the gun belt

    Ryan continues his developer diary giving insight into The Gun Belt. This week, he talks about some of the research required as a developer begins to design their game.

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 2: Creative Foundations

    Article  |  July 1st, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    game developer, gaming, indie game design, roleplaying, rpg, the gun belt

    Ryan continues his developer diary giving insight into The Gun Belt. This time, he shares the first thing he did when The Gun Belt came to be and how it helped establish the game's world.

  • The Gun Belt Developer's Diary 1: Vacant Ideas

    Article  |  June 24th, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    game developer, gaming, indie game design, roleplaying, rpg, the gun belt

    In the first of his indie game developer diaries, Ryan begins sharing the origins of The Gun Belt and how sometimes the game you set out to make isn't the one you thought it would be.

  • Fifty Questions For Better Characters

    Article  |  April 27th, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    character, characters, dungeon master, dungeons and dragons, gaming, geeks, history, inclusion, masks, pathfinder, roleplaying games, rpg, sensitivity, storytelling, tabletop, vampire, white wolf, world of darkness

    After talking about character histories, The Curmudgeon shares the list of 50 questions to help develop your character's history that was published in his book, On A Roll.

  • The Broken Brilliance of "Get Woke, Go Broke"

    Article  |  February 3rd, 2019
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    dungeon master, dungeons and dragons, gaming, geeks, inclusion, masks, pathfinder, roleplaying games, rpg, sensitivity, storytelling, tabletop, vampire, white wolf, world of darkness

    The Curmudgeon examines the unfortunate brilliance of the "Get Woke, Go Broke" catchphrase and the vicious attacks both sides of the argument make. He even manages to find some common ground to move toward a positive solution.

  • Episode 131: Do We Even Need Experience Points?

    Episode  |  December 5th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 4 mins
    characters, culture, diversity, experience points, game design, geeks, roleplaying games, rpg, tabletop games, xp

    There's a lot of talk about experience points lately, so the Favorite asks the Curmudgeon and the Legend what the point of XP is. Carie, Jason and Ryan discuss the problems and benefits of XP, why we have it and why it's such a contentious topic on our final episode of season one!

  • Running Your Best Game

    Article  |  December 3rd, 2018
    By Ryan - The Curmudgeon
    dungeon master, dungeons and dragons, gaming, geeks, masks, pathfinder, roleplaying games, rpg, storytelling, tabletop, vampire, white wolf, world of darkness

    No one can run your game better than you. The Curmudgeon believes that still leaves room for improvement.

  • Episode 130: Donny Cates and Telling Great Stories

    Episode  |  November 29th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  35 mins 47 secs
    comics, donny cates, geeks, god country, guardians of the galaxy, marvel comics, podcast, roleplaying games, rpg, storytelling, tabletop, venom

    Epik Comic Show happened recently, and the Curmudgeon and the Legend sat down with Marvel comic's writer Donny Cates. Carie and Ryan find out Donny's story and how he became a comic book author, and then get his take on how to tell a great story!

  • Episode 129: Jamie Chambers, Historic D&D and A Delve in the Cave

    Episode  |  November 18th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 2 mins
    battlestar galactica, conventions, dungeons and dragons, games, geeks, jamie chambers, mush, pathfinder, podcast, postapocalypticon, roleplaying, roleplaying games, rpg, serenity, supernatural, tabletop

    Hanging out at PostApocalypticon at Dicehead Games and Comics, the Curmudgeon and the Legend sat down with game designer Jamie Chambers to talk about his new 5th Ed adventure, A Delve in the Cave. Ryan and Carie also talk with Jamie about his early online role with TSR and his experience writing licensed gaming products.