
Ryan - The Curmudgeon
Co-Host of On A Roll
Ryan Faricelli is often found speaking on social media, crisis communications, public relations, gaming and all manner of film. He has lived in Los Angeles, Chicago and Chattanooga, and is currently a public relations specialist for a billion dollar healthcare corporation. He attended film school at Columbia College in Chicago, was creator and host of the film-centered radio show and podcast Lights Camera Cleveland, is co-founder of the Cleveland Geekster toy and comic show and wrote the book upon which this podcast is based: "On A Roll: Level Up Your RPG".
Ryan began role-playing with the Marvel Superheroes tabletop game in 1989. In college he was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons, the West End Games’ Star Wars, Last Unicorn Games’ Star Trek and World of Darkness.
In 2001, Ryan played his first LARP, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, in One World By Night. He served as a Tribal Narrator for several years and eventually founded and acted as Head Storyteller for a Vampire: the Masquerade game 2003 and in 2004 became Head Storyteller of one of the largest Werewolf games in the org.
Along with several others, Ryan was one of the founders of The Garou Nation in 2005, and served as Tribal Narrator for various tribes from 2005 until 2011. Ryan also served as the developer and final author of TGN’s entire system of Bylaws and Administration Policies until he left the organization in 2011.
Ryan was the Communications Director for the LARP organization Underground Theater for four years and currently helps run Adventurers Not Wanted (a D&D-style game where players play Level 0 townsfolk). Ryan is currently working on an original tabletop RPG called “The Gun Belt.”
Ryan - The Curmudgeon has hosted 104 Episodes.
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Episode 124: Nerdball with Matthew Webb
Episode | September 27th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 12 mins
geeks, larp, matthew webb, nerdball, roleplaying games
The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite have a sit down with Matthew Webb about his recent article about the concept of LARP as Nerdball. Ryan, Carie and Jason talk about how competitive play can be abusive and systemic. They also exploring ways we can all work to prevent those problems and build healthy gaming communities.
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Episode 123: Live AMA
Episode | September 19th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 11 mins
dungeons and dragons, geeks, roleplaying games
Armed with courage and technology, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite take on Facebook Live and hold an "Ask Me Anything"-style show. Ryan, Carie and Jason talk about all of the games in Ryan's gaming room and everything else they get asked by our listeners.
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Episode 122: Snacktastic Help
Episode | September 11th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 3 mins
drawings, geeks, larp, mush, props, roleplaying games, snacks
What sort of things that are NOT the game helps make your game better? This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite discuss snacks, locations, music, props and everything else you can add to your game night to make things great. Ryan, Carie and Jason even explore the differences in these kinds of additions for tabletop games, LARPs and MUSHs.
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Episode 121: Make Great Characters
Episode | September 4th, 2018 | Season 1 | 59 mins 13 secs
characters, geeks, players, roleplaying games
Ever wonder what makes a good character great? This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite try to figure out what players can do to develop their good characters into characters that are great. Ryan, Carie and Jason formulate a four piece theory based on Depth, Substance, Usefulness and Awesome. How do your characters rate?
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Episode 120: Problem Players part 2: Electric Boogaloo
Episode | August 29th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 3 mins
attention whore, bad players, cheaters, competitor, creeper, geeks, players, roleplaying games, storytelling
This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite continue their discussion about problem players. In the second of two parts, Ryan, Carie and Jason break down more types of problem players, what causes them and how to deal with them. They also talk about how to vet players as a means to prevent allowing problem players in to your gaming community in the first place.
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Episode 119: Problem Players pt. 1
Episode | August 21st, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 2 mins
bad players, geeks, metagaming, players, powergaming, roleplaying games, storytelling, xp
What do you do when one of your players is ruining the game for everyone? This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite discuss how to address problem players. In the first of two parts, Ryan, Carie and Jason break down different kinds of problem players, what causes them and how to deal with them.
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Episode 118: Player Agency
Episode | August 14th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 13 mins
geeks, player agency, players, roleplaying games, star trek, star wars
Just what is player agency and how does it work... or not work? This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite tackle defining Player Agency and then exploring the things that make up this mysterious idea. Ryan, Carie and Jason also talk about whether or not it's even real...
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Episode 117: Toxic Fandoms
Episode | August 7th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 2 mins
characters, fandom, geeks, players, plot, roleplaying games, sherlock holmes, star wars, toxicity, vampire, white wolf
Fandoms have become increasingly toxic and broken lately. This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite examine the story of Sherlock Holmes and how even 150 years ago, people were dealing with harassment from fans. Ryan, Carie and Jason also talk about the current problems in fandom, particularly the Star Wars, Critical Role and White Wolf Publishing fandom problems in recent weeks!
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Episode 116: Characters in the Spotlight
Episode | July 31st, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 5 mins
characters, geeks, players, plot, roleplaying games
We all want our character to be in the spotlight from time to time. This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite investigate what players can do to help make sure they can get in the plot and story limelight while also helping other players have their moments, too. Ryan, Carie and Jason also examine how storytellers can manage their gaming group to give everyone the time they want and desire in the spotlight!
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Episode 115: Between Games
Episode | July 17th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 7 mins
downtimes, feedback, geeks, idaho, larp, mush, requests, roleplaying games
What happens to characters in between games? The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite take a look at the between games antics of characters, players and storytellers as they examine downtime actions, online or email scenes and player requests. Ryan, Carie and Jason work through the challenges and expectations of what happens between games.
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Episode 114: DMing For The First Time
Episode | July 10th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 13 mins
community, dungeon master, geeks, hints, roleplaying games, running a game, scenes, storytelling, vampire, white wolf
The very first time anyone runs a game can be nerve-wracking. The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite navigate through advice and suggestions to help make running your first game less stressful and more successful. Breaking it down into what a new DM/Storyteller should do before, during and after their first game, Ryan, Carie and Jason do their best to help any novice game runner have a successful experience. They also take a few minutes to address the current controversy surrounding White Wolf's release of Vampire 5th Edition.
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Episode 113: Constructing Scenes
Episode | July 4th, 2018 | Season 1 | 59 mins 54 secs
beginning, end, geeks, middle, roleplaying games, scenes, storytelling
A great story in a roleplaying game is made up of many different scenes The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite get into the nuts and bolts of what makes a scene work. Examining all of the pieces, Ryan, Carie and Jason do a deep dive into the art of constructing a scene that is compelling, exciting, clear and most of all, in service to the overall story.
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Episode 112: Into The Storyteller's Vault
Episode | June 25th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 1 min
conventions, geeks, hlg con, roleplaying games, storytellers vault, vampire, werewolf
The On A Roll hosts are joined by game designer Josh Heath to talk about his companies, as well as learning all about how to create content for the White Wolf Storyteller's Vault.
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Episode 111: Free RPG Day Special
Episode | June 16th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 14 mins
dicehead, dungeons and dragons, free rpg day, geeks, kids on bikes, roleplaying games
This special episode celebrates the fun had at Free RPG Day! The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite spent the day at Dicehead Comics and Games in Cleveland, Tennessee, where they played a ton of Dungeons & Dragons, got some great free shwag from some wonderful games and got to know a gaggle of local gamers in our community! Join Ryan, Carie and Jason as they get down in the trenches with Chad, Painter, Benito, Ian, Stacy, Marty, Scott and Dakota!
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Episode 110: Villains vs. Bad Guys
Episode | June 12th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 5 mins
antagonists, bad guys, evil, geeks, npcs, roleplaying games, villains
This week's episode is tuned to the key of E vil as the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite explore the differences between villains and bad guys. Ryan, Carie and Jason debate the finer points of constructing great antagonists and how these NPCs interact with the story being told.
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Episode 109: Great ST Mistakes
Episode | June 5th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 2 mins
geeks, mistakes, roleplaying games, storytelling, trust
Nobody's perfect, not even the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite. Delving deep into their gaming history, Ryan, Carie and Jason tell the stories of the greatest mistakes they ever made while storytelling for roleplaying games. When it's all over, they're a bit surprised to discover a common theme in their ways...