All Episodes

What I Wouldn't Give For A Sausage | Troika! Ep 8 — The Jaunty Mantis

Roll To Ignore The Cats | Troika! Ep 7 — The Jaunty Mantis

The Goose Grease Goblin | Troika! Ep 6 — The Jaunty Mantis

The Demonic Water & The Wizard's Curse | Troika! Ep 5 — The Jaunty Mantis

Owls of Floor One | Troika! Ep 4 — The Jaunty Mantis Actual Play

Not Ominous At All | Troika! Ep 3 — The Jaunty Mantis Actual Play

The Pickled Diplomat | Troika! Ep 2 — The Jaunty Mantis Actual Play

Three Strangers, One Hotel Room | Troika! Ep 1 — The Jaunty Mantis Actual Play

Mothership RPG Review

Mothership RPG Actual Play | Part 2 | Sci-Fi Horror TTRPG

JM133 - Mothership Actual Play with Rich Ranallo from Signal Interruption | Part 1

JM132 -Terrain: The Third Army

JM131 - Where and how do we prep for games? Software, setting, stimulants.

JM130 - Danger & Death

JM129 - Always Split the Party? | GM Advice for Better RPG Storytelling

JM128 - Our Tabletop Gaming Goals for 2026

JM127 - Session endings: are yours satisfying?

JM126 - What’s the Point of Roleplaying Games? | Power, Story, Violence & Community

JM125 - Don’t Cancel the Game: Creative Fixes for Missing Players

JM124 - Are Serious TTRPG Campaigns Even Possible? Humor, Emotion & Storytelling in RPGs

JM123 - Traveller RPG Character Creation

JM122 - The Open Table Manifesto from The Alexandrian

JM121 - Draw Steel: Our Messy Review of an Awesomely Bloated RPG

JM120 - Do TTRPGs Even Need Ability Scores?

JM119 - Vampires, Grimdark, and Ghosts in Galveston

JM118 - Social Encounters, Combat Flow, & Character Evolution

Jaunty Mantis 117 - Predation RPG Review – Dinosaurs, Time Travel & the Cypher System

Jaunty Mantis 116 - How to Make Dinosaur Encounters Feel Different in TTRPGs

Jaunty Mantis 115 - Dinosaur Domains & Blood Magic | Designing Prehistoric Horror in D&D 5e

Jaunty Mantis 114 - Turning Prehistoric Power into Epic Settings and Characters

Oral History of TTRPGs: Richard Dansky on Wraith & Writing Across Media

D&D 4E’s Resurgence: Skill Challenges, Bloodied Condition, and the Dark Sun Connection

Level Up Your GM Skills: Rolemaster, Vampire 5e & Mastering Game Pacing

The Oral History of TTRPGs with Bill White

Oral History of TTRPGs with Jared Sorensen – From the Red Box to Indie Innovation

Jesse and Chris Talk about Cons, Covid and Credit Card Debt

Jesse’s Journey Through Tabletop Roleplaying: An Oral History of TTRPG Life and Culture

Chris' Journey Through Tabletop Roleplaying: An Oral History of TTRPG Life and Culture

Rolemaster Unlimited Actual Play – Shadow World: Norek Part 1

Blending Wargaming and Role-Playing Part 2: Warhammer 40k Crusade & Forbidden Psalm

Rolling with Momentum: Breaking Down Modiphius' 2d20 System

This Podcast Could Have Been an Email: Pacing, Recaps, and Player Clarity

Between Dice and Drybrush: Exploring the Crossover Between Wargaming and TTRPGs

Killer GM, Master Storyteller: Laurin on Prepping, Pressure, and the One Ring

Beyond the Battle: Running TTRPGs with Minimal Combat

Maximizing Your Elevator Pitch for a Successful Session Zero

Improv Meets TTRPGs – How Improvisation Shapes Better Games

Creating Rolemaster Unified Characters – A Deep Dive into Classic Simulationist TTRPGs

Horror in TTRPGs with Karl: Storytelling, Setting & Mechanics in Call of Cthulhu | Bonus Episode

Scif-i Mark has entered the chat. Science Fiction in TTRPGs and what makes it great!

Bog Trolls, Troika recaps, and why Chris Loves the Forgotten Realms | Bonus Episode

S5:E3 - Incorporating Dinosaurs Into Your Game

S5:E2 - The Best Resources for Dinosaur-Themed TTRPGs

S5:E1 - Dinosaurs & TTRPGs: Prehistoric Adventures at Your Table!

Is Gaming Fiction Worth Reading? | Bonus Episode

TTRPG Gaming Goals for 2025: Leveling Up Your Table | Bonus Episode

Breaking the Recap Routine: Do We Really Need Session Summaries? | Bonus Episode

Should I Run An Evil D&D Campaign? | Bonus Episode

Mastering the Art of the One-Shot: How to Run D&D Adventures in a Single Session | Bonus Episode

Hot Takes in Hyperspace: Our Controversial Review of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew* | Bonus Episode

BONUS - Jesse's Galveston Vampire Game

BONUS - How To Get GOOD Gamer Feedback

S4:E12 - How To Introduce A New Game

S4:E11 - Rethinking PC Roles

S4:E10 - Addressing Player Types

Bonus Episode - The One About LARPing

S4:E9 - Encounter Difficulty

S4:E8 - World Building Without Homework

S4:E7 - When Is It Appropriate To Say No?

S4:E6 - Making Aliens Interesting

S4:E5 - Handling IP In A Role Playing Game

S4:E4 - Handling Boredom At The Table

S4:E3 - Ending A Campaign

S4:E2 - Our Gaming Inspirations

S4:E1 - Resources For Newish GMs

Bonus - Burning Down The House

Bonus - Workshopping Character Concepts With The DM

Bonus - Is D&D Beyond STILL The Best Thing About 5E?

Bonus - RPG Bucket Lists

Bonus - D&D 2024 Player's Handbook First Impressions!

Bonus - Are 'Slice Of Life' Games Fun?

Bonus - Matty Makes A D&D Roguelike (Part 2)

Bonus - Matty Makes A D&D Rougelike (Part 1)

Bonus - Mecha Military Style Games

Bonus - Is My Game Too Silly?

Bonus - The One About Lower Decks

Bonus - Should We Get Matching Beard Tattoos?

Bonus - Do We Need To Be OP?

Bonus - What Is A Roleplaying Game?

Bonus - We Played Trophy Dark!

S3:E12 - What Is Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound?

S3:E11 - What Is Blades In The Dark?

S3:E10 - What Is Transformers (The RPG)?

S3:E9 - What Is Trophy Dark?

S3:E8 - What Is Planegea?

S3:E7 - What Is Shadowrun Anarchy?

S3:E6 - What Is Ultraviolet Grasslands?

S3:E5 - What Is FATE Core?

S3:E4 - What Is TROIKA!?

S3:E3 - What Is Shadowdark?

S3:E2 - What Is Index Card RPG?

S3:E1 - What Is Velvet Generation?

Bonus - Playlists Instead of Paragraphs?

Bonus - Should Mortal Engines Be A Campaign Setting

Bonus - Gaming Podcasts We Like

Bonus - Teaching Rules and Gamer Ego

Bonus - Exploring Rifts

Bonus - Should Jesse Hack Dark Sun?

Bonus - Avatar The Last Airbender, Star Trek, and For All Mankind

Bonus - Are Skills Necessary In RPGs?

Bonus - Would A Survival Crafter TTRPG Be Fun?

S2:E12 - Creating A Campaign

S2:E11 - Creating A Minster

S2:E10 - Creating A Starship

S2:E9 - Creating A Sci Fi Setting (part 2)

S2:E8 - Creating A Sci Fi Setting (part 1)

S2:E7 - Creating a 5e D&D Race

S2:E6 - Creating A Fantasy Setting (part 2)

Bonus - Holiday Grudges and Thanks

S2:E5 - Creating A Fantasy Setting (part 1)

S2:E4 - Creating A Cyberpunk Adventure

S2:E3 - Creating A Cyberpunk Setting (part 2)

S2:E2 - Creating A Cyberpunk Setting (part 1)

S2:E1 - Genre TTRPGs

Bonus - Baldur's Gate 3: Murder, Romance, and Disappointment

Bonus - What Is A Murder Hobo?

Bonus - Jesse's Re-Obsession With RIFTS

Bonus - Disruptive Characters

Bonus - The D&D Movie

Bonus - Ahsoka and Modern Star Wars

S1:E12 - Does Fantasy Need To Get Weird(er)?

S1:E11 - Magic Systems

S1:E10 - PC Roles

S1:E9 - Why YOU Should GM

S1:E8 - Character Death

S1:E7 - Can Baldur's Gate 3 Improve D&D?

S1:E6 - Asking For Help

S1:E5 - Alignment?

S1:E4 - Challenging Characters

S1:E3 - World Building With A Light Touch

S1:E2 - Creating Sci-Fi Spaces

S1:E1 - Velvet Generation w/ Rich Ranallo

Introducing The Jaunty Mantis