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 108: Building Better Players
Episode | May 29th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 2 mins
community, externals, geeks, internals, no, patience, players, roleplaying games, trust
We are all players. Some of us are better players than others, but what qualities make a player "good?" The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite take some time this week to delve into the traits that make a great player. Dividing the conversation into the Internals and Externals, they get into the meat of things we all can do to play better and have more fun.
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Episode 107: Toxicity
Episode | May 22nd, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 8 mins
community, geeks, roleplaying games, safety, toxic
Role-playing game communities, like most communities, have become increasingly aware of issues like safety, inclusion and behavioral problems. This week, The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite tackle the difficult and often uncomfortable topic of toxic players, toxic game runners and toxic environments in the world of tabletop RPGs, LARP and MUSH, and they explore ways we can all help to make our gaming spaces healthier.
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Episode 106: Finding Ideas
Episode | May 17th, 2018 | Season 1 | 55 mins 24 secs
characters, creativity, geeks, plot, roleplaying games, setting
Where do ideas come from? The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite explore the process of creativity and how great ideas are born. Join Ryan, Carie and Jason as they talk about coming up with ideas for plots, characters and settings.
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Episode 105: Con Job
Episode | April 29th, 2018 | Season 1 | 54 mins 50 secs
conventions, geeks, lexicon, magpie games, masks, roleplaying games, the region
The Favorite had to work, so The Curmudgeon and the Legend went to Lexicon, an amazing gaming convention in Lexington, Kentucky. After playing in some tabletop games there, they bring in the show's first guest, The Pollack, to talk about convention games. Covering everything from planning, promoting and actually running a con game, Ryan, Carie and Chris do their best to figure out the formula to make running and playing con games be as much fun as possible.
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Episode 104: Don't Run These Plots
Episode | April 18th, 2018 | Season 1 | 58 mins
abuse, assault, geeks, roleplaying games, safety, sex, triggers
The Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite tackle the difficult subject of The Unpermissibles – the triggering topics that should really never be used as plots in your games. Join Ryan, Carie and Jason as they discuss maintaining player safety, understanding why the Unpermissibles are so damaging and how to navigate them within games you play or run.
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Episode 103: Run the Game You Say You're Running
Episode | April 10th, 2018 | Season 1 | 55 mins 55 secs
geeks, genre, roleplaying games
This week, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite talk about the importance of clearly understanding and communicating what the game you are running is to your players to help balance expectation and manage the feel. It's about Communication, interpretation and expectation.
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Episode 102: Buzzwords
Episode | April 4th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 6 mins
accessibility, bleed, buzzwords, geeks, immersion, nordic larp
In their second episode, the Curmudgeon, the Legend and the Favorite discuss the current epidemic of buzzwords used to market tabletop gaming, LARPing and MUSHing. Accessible, blockbuster, bleed, immersion and transformative are just a few of the words Ryan, Carie and Jason explore.
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Episode 101: Firsts
Episode | April 2nd, 2018 | Season 1 | 56 mins 46 secs
demon master, dungeons & dragons, geeks, marvel superheroes, rpgs, shattered isles
In the very first episode of On A Roll, the Curmudgeon shares the tale of his first tabletop rpg and the demon who ran the game, The Legend recalls her first D&D game and The Favorite talks about his first boffer LARP. It's a trip through time that ends with exploring the idea of first games and how new players navigate their first exposure to the role-playing game hobby.