open-hearth-rpg

[open-hearth-rpg]

[open-hearth-rpg]

Off-Calendar Highlights

The Between: Secrets in Lavender (Session 8) Madelancholy runs for Kathleen Fuller, Mike, and Sabine V. "Hidden Orders and Ideas" - Felix calls on hosts of suspicious soothsayers to find out more information about them. Ellie asks Mordecai to lay off Constable Lansing as a target. Ellie checks out the bodies at Jenny Johnston's. Mordecai visits a gin distillery.

The Between: Secrets in Lavender (Session 9) Madelancholy runs for Kathleen Fuller, Mike, and Sabine V. "Aid and Aspirations" - Felix talks with a socialite - not as himself. Ellie is confronted by Constable Lansing outside of Jenny's. Mordecai meets a deranged doctor in the tenements of Miswell Hill. Back at the house, Mordecai berates Ellie for bringing his prey back to Hargrave while Felix asks Lansing about his goals while getting ready to take down the Lurker.

The Between: Secrets in Lavender (Session 10) Madelancholy runs for Kathleen Fuller, Mike, and Sabine V. "Cautious with Our Truths" - The hunters take on the Lurker, Lansing providing assistance. In the morning, Ellie gets a little more information about the Order, and Mordecai starts learning ancient Sumerian from Felix. An invitation to a salon presentation turns out to be unpleasantly connected to a newly-discovered corpse as a new Threat is presented to Hargrave House.

The Between: Lilacs in the Dark (Session 1) Madelancholy runs for Clint Smith, Jim Likes Games, Kim Riek, and Mike Ferdinando "Cold Streets and Hot Bother" - We open on a spot of bother at St. James Street, and then get introduced to new characters for another playthrough of an original Mastermind in this new series of The Between. Hargrave House's neighbor brings news of a strange death at the Little Blackbirds Inn, and the hunters begin investigations.

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Open Hearth Video Roundup - July 3, 2025

Welcome to the monthly Open Hearth Gaming video roundup!

These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every month, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our entire library of session videos, please visit our YouTube Playlists page. To hear our recorded sessions in audio-only form, please check out our Playing at the Hearth podcast.

Open Hearth Gaming Calendar

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 9) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Sabine V., and Will H "Search & Rescue" - Captain Vate orders the Kintsugi closer to the stellar body to begin the rescue efforts on the Stockton. With sensors, communications, and transporters unavailable, the crew must ferry by shuttle to the ship, hoping to affect repairs before it crashes into the sun.

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 10) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Donogh, Jo Lene, and Sabine V. "Voyage of the Space Dogs" - While returning from a Federation dress event, Ward and her team are ripped out of warp and dragged onto a damaged, ancient vessel. Aboard they meet the crew of this generation ship, who tell them their tale of knowledge lost over centuries and their need for help. But all is not as it seems...

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 11) Lowell Francis runs for Donogh, Jo Lene, and Sabine V. "Exile" - The Kintsugi is dispatched to take up the mission of an ambushed Federation ship, heading into Cardassian-controlled space to capture a a damaged prisoner transport. But the presence of an old adversary complicates matters. But things will only get more entangled when the Maquis, refugee Cardassian Officials, and Bajoran relic enter the picture.

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 12) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Donogh, Jo Lene, and Sabine V. Season 2 Finale - "Exile" - Having rescued the prisoners from a Cardassian prisoner transport, the crew now begin the task of escaping from behind enemy lines. But the situation is complicated by the presence of a Bajoran Orb and the secrets it holds, including an ancient adversary who has troubled the Federation before...

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 18) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, our caravan made a base camp in the Lurid Pines, had tea with the eloquent mole rats, got heat-rayed during a parlay with some nasty tinker gerbils, and took a peek at the grim hamsters' domain, finding a foul pit of docile ka-zombies.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 19) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, In this week's Ultraviolet Grasslands, we go shopping at the Behemoth Shell, spent a lot of time studying, Phaedred traded a piece of his mind for a cool new glove, and we learn more truth about Adoron and the Rebuilder. It's a LOT.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 20) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, the caravan repelled an unexpected giant armadillo attack, got powers and skills from bushy bikers and vampire herbalists, and returned to the biomancer ruins to confront the cannibal hamsters and an old ka-ba maintenance body.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 21) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, Ottokar scared some foes with his mighty roar, Adoron made a real connection with the Rebuilder and got a couple of mighty quests, and Modon and Phaedred murdered a whole bunch of cannibal hamsters that'd been butchering zombies for snacks.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 22) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, Steven S., and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, our heroes utterly wrecked a giant centipede face-thief, met a new party member—Newt, narco-general polymind��joined up some friends and wrangled a train of fresh ba-zombies to sell back at the Serai, and threw literally the best party the Behemoth Shell has ever seen.

Union Lowell Francis runs for Donogh, Sabine V., and Will H A one-shot of Ben Robbins' Union, a game of family and ancestry. This takes the mechanics of Microscope to explore a single family line. We look at those who led up to our hero and how they tore down the gates to hell in order to destroy the great houses of magic. You can see a copy of the Google Sheet we used to play including the family tree we created.

Rapscallion: The Archipelago (Session 1) Alun R. runs for Dom, José Feito, Lowell Francis, and Sabine V. We meet the key members of the crew of a ramshackle paddle boat, The Goose: Gloria Song, is a Mountebank haunted by the spirit of her mad siren mother; Calum Brae, the Matelot, blessed by (or cursed with?) a tattoo applied by the siren's of 'The Eye Below'; Einar the Seatalker, the Goose's Navigator, with whom the sea is infatuated and after whom it sends a perpetual storm; and Ishmael, the ship's not entirely dead (but equally, not entirely alive) Chirurgeon. The crew were in dire need when The Goose surfaced and saved them when they were marooned near Hell's Gate. When she surfaced they found a mysterious chest they cannot...yet...open; but they know a man who can...

Rapscallion: The Archipelago (Session 2) Alun R. runs for Dom, José Feito, Lowell Francis, and Sabine V. Arriving at Scaravia, the pirate haven of the Archipelago, the Crew begin a well-earned shore leave: there's a tavern and a brawl, a friendly game of cards, and a young woman prepared to trade information for a favour, while we discover what one of the crew is hiding under their coat. Then, one of the crew is left hanging, another demonstrates his rashness (and care), and a third risks Unleashing their Power, while the fourth battles to suppress their fascination with the relationship between man and octopus. Finally...buckles are swashed, peg-legs are stolen, a matronly lady gets carried away, before...'mother dearest arrives to help'...

Rapscallion: The Archipelago (Session 3) Alun R. runs for Dom, José Feito, Lowell Francis, and Sabine V. Fearing retribution the crew can't loiter at Scaravia, but they have yet to visit Threadbare Roger in his mysterious tower. There's a strange retainer, riddles that are, and riddles that might be. Then, a library, a book and an engagement, before...a leviathan and a storm present a challenging choice...

Microscope Chronicle Lowell Francis runs for Anders, Donogh, José Feito, and Puckett A one-shot of Ben Robbins' Microscope Chronicle, a variation on Microscope which follows the story of something: a society, a city, an object, across time. This version is currently in playtest. Our story traces the course of a dangerous infernal drum from ancient times to the modern day.

Mythomorphosis: Firstruin Lowell Francis runs for Anders, José Feito, and Sabine V. A one-shot of Gordie Murphy's Mythomorphosis, a game which "explore(s) the relationship between a society's history and one of its dominant cultural stories, creating and changing a myth over the course of generations." We look at the founding myth of a frontier settlement built on ancient ruins in a world of dead gods.

Writers' Room: The Town at the End of the Road Anders runs for Agatha, Dominik M., and LadyKaella (Kaya) We play Writers' Room and create a small town mystery show that turns out to be surprisingly wholesome!

Writers' Room: This City Never Sleeps Anders runs for Aaron Feild and Ben We create Catawumpus, an urban fantasy tv show with intrigue, murder, and magic.

Star Wars Saturday

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 7) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Kae, and Steven Watkins The crew escapes with a Hutt this time.

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 8) Rich Rogers runs for Anders and Steven Watkins Stuck on Procopia, Kolla and J0-D1's lives take very different turns.

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 9) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Greg G., Kae, and Steven Watkins The team avoids assassination and exits Procopia!

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 10) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Greg G., Kae, and Steven Watkins The finale of the quarterly series has Star Destroyers, Sith holocrons, and a bunch of blasters!

MCU Sunday

Capes in the Dark (Session 1) Rich Rogers runs for Mark (they/them), Rod Santos, and Zack The Mavericks take down the 404s!

Capes in the Dark (Session 2) Rich Rogers runs for Mark (they/them), Rod Santos, and Zack The Mavericks gather information on Cathax and talk to an action figure.

Capes in the Dark (Session 3) Rich Rogers runs for Mark (they/them), Rod Santos, and Zack The Mavericks face off against the 404s again at a rave and meet...some storm giants?

Silent Falls

Two Summers (Session 5 of 7) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp Kira's master plan to introduce her friends to her secret stash of 'shrooms in the deep dark woods goes ahead. Twenty years later, that dinner party takes place (guess what's on the menu!) and quite a few awkward conversations have to occur before they can get to discussing how to save the library...

Two Summers (Session 6 of 7) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp The teens plan to sneak into the locked basement room in the library, but there they see a terrifying ritual occur that has long-term repercussions for them all. As adults we see another secret unlocked, this time from a hidden 8mm projector; and they finally sit down to talk about what they must do, and the things they've been hiding from each other for years...

Two Summers (Session 7 of 7) Donogh runs for Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp The teens finally talk about what Remy had been holding for Jenny, and that encounter with the Mud Witch in the library not enough excitement for her Kira sneaks into the Monteiro mansion... Terry also helps out at a gig, with encouragement and some help from the others. (Don't worry, we'll be returning in September for part 2.)

Laundromat Donogh runs for Kae, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp In between all the drama, Kira and Jeremiah are bringing very different loads of laundry to be washed, but there they encounter Jenny Monteiro (incognito) and it seems that the respite they seek isn't available. Those laundromat tokens come with free drama!

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[open-hearth-rpg]

Open Hearth Video Roundup - July 3, 2025

Welcome to the monthly Open Hearth Gaming video roundup!

These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every month, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our entire library of session videos, please visit our YouTube Playlists page. To hear our recorded sessions in audio-only form, please check out our Playing at the Hearth podcast.

Open Hearth Gaming Calendar

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 9) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Sabine V., and Will H "Search & Rescue" - Captain Vate orders the Kintsugi closer to the stellar body to begin the rescue efforts on the Stockton. With sensors, communications, and transporters unavailable, the crew must ferry by shuttle to the ship, hoping to affect repairs before it crashes into the sun.

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 10) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Donogh, Jo Lene, and Sabine V. "Voyage of the Space Dogs" - While returning from a Federation dress event, Ward and her team are ripped out of warp and dragged onto a damaged, ancient vessel. Aboard they meet the crew of this generation ship, who tell them their tale of knowledge lost over centuries and their need for help. But all is not as it seems...

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 11) Lowell Francis runs for Donogh, Jo Lene, and Sabine V. "Exile" - The Kintsugi is dispatched to take up the mission of an ambushed Federation ship, heading into Cardassian-controlled space to capture a a damaged prisoner transport. But the presence of an old adversary complicates matters. But things will only get more entangled when the Maquis, refugee Cardassian Officials, and Bajoran relic enter the picture.

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 12) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Donogh, Jo Lene, and Sabine V. Season 2 Finale - "Exile" - Having rescued the prisoners from a Cardassian prisoner transport, the crew now begin the task of escaping from behind enemy lines. But the situation is complicated by the presence of a Bajoran Orb and the secrets it holds, including an ancient adversary who has troubled the Federation before...

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 18) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, our caravan made a base camp in the Lurid Pines, had tea with the eloquent mole rats, got heat-rayed during a parlay with some nasty tinker gerbils, and took a peek at the grim hamsters' domain, finding a foul pit of docile ka-zombies.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 19) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, In this week's Ultraviolet Grasslands, we go shopping at the Behemoth Shell, spent a lot of time studying, Phaedred traded a piece of his mind for a cool new glove, and we learn more truth about Adoron and the Rebuilder. It's a LOT.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 20) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, the caravan repelled an unexpected giant armadillo attack, got powers and skills from bushy bikers and vampire herbalists, and returned to the biomancer ruins to confront the cannibal hamsters and an old ka-ba maintenance body.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 21) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, Ottokar scared some foes with his mighty roar, Adoron made a real connection with the Rebuilder and got a couple of mighty quests, and Modon and Phaedred murdered a whole bunch of cannibal hamsters that'd been butchering zombies for snacks.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 22) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, Steven S., and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, our heroes utterly wrecked a giant centipede face-thief, met a new party member—Newt, narco-general polymind—joined up some friends and wrangled a train of fresh ba-zombies to sell back at the Serai, and threw literally the best party the Behemoth Shell has ever seen.

Union Lowell Francis runs for Donogh, Sabine V., and Will H A one-shot of Ben Robbins' Union, a game of family and ancestry. This takes the mechanics of Microscope to explore a single family line. We look at those who led up to our hero and how they tore down the gates to hell in order to destroy the great houses of magic. You can see a copy of the Google Sheet we used to play including the family tree we created.

Rapscallion: The Archipelago (Session 1) Alun R. runs for Dom, José Feito, Lowell Francis, and Sabine V. We meet the key members of the crew of a ramshackle paddle boat, The Goose: Gloria Song, is a Mountebank haunted by the spirit of her mad siren mother; Calum Brae, the Matelot, blessed by (or cursed with?) a tattoo applied by the siren's of 'The Eye Below'; Einar the Seatalker, the Goose's Navigator, with whom the sea is infatuated and after whom it sends a perpetual storm; and Ishmael, the ship's not entirely dead (but equally, not entirely alive) Chirurgeon. The crew were in dire need when The Goose surfaced and saved them when they were marooned near Hell's Gate. When she surfaced they found a mysterious chest they cannot...yet...open; but they know a man who can...

Rapscallion: The Archipelago (Session 2) Alun R. runs for Dom, José Feito, Lowell Francis, and Sabine V. Arriving at Scaravia, the pirate haven of the Archipelago, the Crew begin a well-earned shore leave: there's a tavern and a brawl, a friendly game of cards, and a young woman prepared to trade information for a favour, while we discover what one of the crew is hiding under their coat. Then, one of the crew is left hanging, another demonstrates his rashness (and care), and a third risks Unleashing their Power, while the fourth battles to suppress their fascination with the relationship between man and octopus. Finally...buckles are swashed, peg-legs are stolen, a matronly lady gets carried away, before...'mother dearest arrives to help'...

Rapscallion: The Archipelago (Session 3) Alun R. runs for Dom, José Feito, Lowell Francis, and Sabine V. Fearing retribution the crew can't loiter at Scaravia, but they have yet to visit Threadbare Roger in his mysterious tower. There's a strange retainer, riddles that are, and riddles that might be. Then, a library, a book and an engagement, before...a leviathan and a storm present a challenging choice...

Microscope Chronicle Lowell Francis runs for Anders, Donogh, José Feito, and Puckett A one-shot of Ben Robbins' Microscope Chronicle, a variation on Microscope which follows the story of something: a society, a city, an object, across time. This version is currently in playtest. Our story traces the course of a dangerous infernal drum from ancient times to the modern day.

Mythomorphosis: Firstruin Lowell Francis runs for Anders, José Feito, and Sabine V. A one-shot of Gordie Murphy's Mythomorphosis, a game which "explore(s) the relationship between a society's history and one of its dominant cultural stories, creating and changing a myth over the course of generations." We look at the founding myth of a frontier settlement built on ancient ruins in a world of dead gods.

Writers' Room: The Town at the End of the Road Anders runs for Agatha, Dominik M., and LadyKaella (Kaya) We play Writers' Room and create a small town mystery show that turns out to be surprisingly wholesome!

Writers' Room: This City Never Sleeps Anders runs for Aaron Feild and Ben We create Catawumpus, an urban fantasy tv show with intrigue, murder, and magic.

Star Wars Saturday

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 7) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Kae, and Steven Watkins The crew escapes with a Hutt this time.

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 8) Rich Rogers runs for Anders and Steven Watkins Stuck on Procopia, Kolla and J0-D1's lives take very different turns.

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 9) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Greg G., Kae, and Steven Watkins The team avoids assassination and exits Procopia!

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 10) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Greg G., Kae, and Steven Watkins The finale of the quarterly series has Star Destroyers, Sith holocrons, and a bunch of blasters!

MCU Sunday

Capes in the Dark (Session 1) Rich Rogers runs for Mark (they/them), Rod Santos, and Zack The Mavericks take down the 404s!

Capes in the Dark (Session 2) Rich Rogers runs for Mark (they/them), Rod Santos, and Zack The Mavericks gather information on Cathax and talk to an action figure.

Capes in the Dark (Session 3) Rich Rogers runs for Mark (they/them), Rod Santos, and Zack The Mavericks face off against the 404s again at a rave and meet...some storm giants?

Silent Falls

Two Summers (Session 5 of 7) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp Kira's master plan to introduce her friends to her secret stash of 'shrooms in the deep dark woods goes ahead. Twenty years later, that dinner party takes place (guess what's on the menu!) and quite a few awkward conversations have to occur before they can get to discussing how to save the library...

Two Summers (Session 6 of 7) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp The teens plan to sneak into the locked basement room in the library, but there they see a terrifying ritual occur that has long-term repercussions for them all. As adults we see another secret unlocked, this time from a hidden 8mm projector; and they finally sit down to talk about what they must do, and the things they've been hiding from each other for years...

Two Summers (Session 7 of 7) Donogh runs for Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp The teens finally talk about what Remy had been holding for Jenny, and that encounter with the Mud Witch in the library not enough excitement for her Kira sneaks into the Monteiro mansion... Terry also helps out at a gig, with encouragement and some help from the others. (Don't worry, we'll be returning in September for part 2.)

Laundromat Donogh runs for Kae, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp In between all the drama, Kira and Jeremiah are bringing very different loads of laundry to be washed, but there they encounter Jenny Monteiro (incognito) and it seems that the respite they seek isn't available. Those laundromat tokens come with free drama!

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[open-hearth-rpg]

Open Hearth Podcast Ep 10: Night Witches, Fathom, Impossible Landscapes

OHP is a podcast focused on exploring our community's games-- what folks are playing, reading and thinking about. In this episode we talk recent gaming and look at some really interesting and intense games. Host Mike Minutillo is joined community members Gwen Marshall and Ethan Harvey.

[open-hearth-rpg]

Job search is going really well

[open-hearth-rpg]

Talking World Building, Collaboration & Beyond

There's a new seminar in our Around the Hearth podcast feed. It's a recording of a talk by Lowell Francis (me) about handling world building and collaborative elements. This session was part of Shared Hearth, the Open Hearth Gaming Community free ttrpg weekend.

In this talk/discussion we hit on -Reasons for a shared approach -How existing games handle this -Online tools and techniques -Managing collaborative building …and more.

There's a link to the talk outline in the show notes, This was a mixed discussion and Q&A. We talked about adapting a more fixed setting, like Duskvol from Blades in the Dark, to make it into one with even more interesting player input and creation.

[open-hearth-rpg]

“Musk talks about Mars as a lifeboat for humanity, which is among the very stupidest things that someone could say,” says Adam Becker, an astrophysicist and author of the book More Everything Forever, which outlines the messianic, sci-fi fantasies of the tech oligarchs. “There are so many reasons why it’s such a bad idea, and this is not about, ‘Oh, we’ll never have the technology to live on Mars.’ That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that Earth is always going to be a better option no matter what happens to Earth. Like, we could get hit with an asteroid the size of the one that killed off the dinosaurs, and Earth would still be more habitable. We could explode every single nuclear weapon, and Earth would still be more habitable. We could have the worst-case scenario for climate change, and Earth would still be more habitable. Any cursory examination of any of the facts about Mars makes it very clear.”

What You’ve Suspected Is True: Billionaires Are Not Like Us

[open-hearth-rpg]

Bystander Intervention Training

so, the US just attacked Iran, and that is fucking terrible. Something we all need to think about right now is how we can stop the harassment and violence against Muslims and Arabs in the US that got so much worse in the early 2000s from happening again to people now.

To that end, I wanted to share some resources on Bystander Intervention. One of the biggest things I learned from training like this is that there are many ways to intervene, and they don't all involve putting yourself in front of the person who may harm you or others. It's ok if you feel intimidated by that because there are more ways to help! And once you do the training, it might not be so scary.

Right to Be has Bystander trainings based on the 5Ds of Bystander Intervention (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct). The trainings are free!! sign up here.

I took one of their trainings a few years ago (when the org was called Hollaback!) and it was really very good, they have trainings at multiple levels and focused on various topics. They also partner with other orgs to focus on specific issues (like anti-AAPI harassment and with CAIR Chicago for anti-Muslim harassment, etc.).

Here are a few more resources:

APA Bystander Intervention Tip Sheet

RAINN Practicing Bystander Intervention

I think I'll sign up for one as a refresher.

[open-hearth-rpg]

About This Blog...

Hi, hello, I love ttRPGs, don't you?

I've been running them for about ten years now, for several groups since COVID. Online, in person, a mix of the two. It brings me such a joy to bring people to the hobby.

But it's not quite enough. None of the people I play with are as enthusiastic as I am. They don't have the interest to engage with RPGs the way I want to - and that's perfectly alright! It goes without saying that the Game Master-type figure is often the

That said, I figure that maybe it's time to take the plunge and try to connect with others who feel about ttRPGs as I do. Who want to engage with so much more than the big names, who are willing to dig into weird mechanics or engage with some fun worldbuilding idea that crosses their path at two in the morning; or even just someone who'll see me drop a fun location and think to themselves, "Hey, that's neat, I'll put this in my own game."

I'll be writing about large indie RPGs like Heart: The City Beneath (my sheila), Spire: The City Must Fall (embrace anarchism, tear down the town) and DIE: The RPG by Kieron Gillen (don't mean to toot my own horn, but I wrote a blog post elsewhere once and Mr. Gillen himself reposted it, and ain't that nice?!). Many Free League ones, too, I love those, and the titles coming out of Darrington Press (though, idiotically, I didn't pre-order a copy of Daggerheart, which I will eternally be tormented about).

There's no escaping D&D, either, and I do sometimes have opinions about it: those will appear occasionally.

What I hope to do here is engage with the smaller titles, too, alongside all the bigger ones I've played and loved like The One Ring, Alien, Dragonbane (and half a dozen RPGs by Free League, who very rarely miss, don't they?). I want to find bizarre, unhinged rules that will have me laugh out loud in disbelief at the nerve or sheer ingenuity at display.

And I hope to make new friends. That would be a treat.

There you have it. If this sounds good and fun and what-have-you, stick around. Say hi. I hope you have a grand ol' time here.

This, by-the-by, is Doughie the dough golem. His bark is worse than his bite, and he is so, so sour about it.

[open-hearth-rpg]

The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw

The Hellebore Technical Institute is for the gifted: Anti-Christs, Ragnaroks, and monsters in the making. But on graduation day, the faculty feast on their students. Trapped in the school’s vast library, Alessa Li—kidnapped and forcibly enrolled—must lead her classmates in something they were never taught: how to survive.

Out July 22, 2025!

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532.

London, 1827.

Boston, 2019.

Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots. One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild. And all of them grow teeth.

Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo

Nick Carraway has built a quiet life in 1930s New York. He's good at watching high society and pretending: pretending to be straight, to be human, to have forgotten the summer of 1922. But when a familiar face appears one dark night, he realizes Gatsby, dead or not, isn’t finished with him. In all paper there is memory, and Nick's ghost has come home.

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang

With an armored, oath-bound hero reminiscent of The Mandalorian and the Asian-inspired epic fantasy of She Who Became the Sun, Neon Yang’s Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame is a stunning queer novella about a dragon hunter finding home with a dragon queen.

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender

Only an elite few are legally permitted to study the science of magic—so when Ash is rejected by Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, he is forced to learn alchemy in secret. Caught by brilliant apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash is sure he's about to be arrested—but instead she makes him an offer: help her find the legendary Book of Source, a sacred text that gives its reader extraordinary power, and she’ll keep his secret.

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

In the small town of Thistleford, the Hawthorn family tends enchanted willows and honours an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. Sisters Esther and Ysabel are devoted to the trees, and even more to each other. But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor for a lover from Faerie, the bond between them—and their lives—are put at risk.

Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman

After losing the parents who saved him from an abusive home, Griffon Keming is left with a single journal—his father’s, written from death row. Bloodstained and grief-soaked, it tells a love story between two artists on fire. Notes from a Regicide is a heart-wrenching tale of trans self-discovery with a sci-fi twist from award-winning author Isaac Fellman. 

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

Three years ago, Alice spent one night in an abandoned house with her friends, and her life has spiraled since. Memories of that night torment Alice, but when asked to return to the House, she knows she must go. Alison Rumfitt’s Tell Me I’m Worthless is a dark, unflinching haunted house story that confronts both supernatural and real-world horrors through the lens of the modern-day trans experience.

Not enough books? Check out our other list!

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Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History: Ep. 1 Superhero 2044

In this first episode of Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History, hosts Jay Brown and Lowell Francis look at Superhero 2044, arguably the first supers role-playing game. We go over what the game is, its place in the history of gaming, and what was going on in comics media at the time. We then move to general discussion, including what we found weird and what we dug.

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GOD’S GROVE | PART I by Liza Gomza

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A Different Kind of Hex Ep. 3 - Setting & Following Character Goals

Ian & José are joined by Marc Majcher to discuss how we develop & pursue both in- and out-of-character aspirations. What makes a goal, and how can having one drive play? Along the way we talk about how closely we identify with our PC’s, and peer briefly into using techniques from improv theatre to improve our gaming.

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big fan of urban fantasy and similar genres because theres nothing funnier to me than a setting where youve got people fighting with enchanted blades and bows and hopping around doing magic tricks but you can also just hit a demon with your car if you feel like it

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Open Hearth Video Roundup - June 3, 2025 (continued)

First part here

Silent Falls

Two Summers (Session 1 of 9) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp We create our four teenagers, Jeremiah Briarwood-Barnes the community athlete, Remy Pasquelle the earnest but oblivious one, Terry Delling the older brother type and Kira Holwell the bad seed. Their intricate connections between each other and the town are mapped out.

Two Summers (Session 2 of 9) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp Time to meet the grown-ups, find out how their lives have become complicated in the last 20 years and what they got up to back then (and what’s reared its ugly head to bring them back together!

Two Summers (Session 3 of 9) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, Mark, and Mendel Schmiedekamp See what the grown-ups are doing, how their humdrum lives have led them to (or kept them in) Silent Falls. Then we return to that first Summer, where we find Jeremiah visit his great aunt Lorraine; Terry badger his aunt Monica about her health, and Remy & Kira mix research with meddling in the library...

Two Summers (Session 4 of 9) Donogh runs for Kae, Madelancholy, and Mark See two sides of the same ship/wreck as Jeremiah and Terry date as teens but bump into each other as awkward exes in the present day. But of course Kira invites them both to dinner at her place! She has her own marriage to save... Find out what goes on in the Monteiro house, as Jeremiah goes down to the wine cellar!

Off-Calendar Highlights

The Between: Secrets in Lavender (Episode 5) Madelancholy runs for Jazy, Kathleen Fuller, Mike, and Sabine V. "Taking Tea and the Fall" - Questions Answered about Little Blackbirds, and then Felix and Ellie are invited to tea with a special guest, and Jiayi and Mordecai deal with someone who got in over their head.

The Between: Secrets in Lavender (Episode 6) Madelancholy runs for Jazy, Kathleen Fuller, Mike, and Sabine V. "Discoveries around Limehouse and Miswell Hill" - The episode opens with the Mask of the Sharpened Glade. Then Ellie mellows out while talking with Mordecai, Felix annoys another constable, and Jiayi gives a tour around Hargrave. Day commences with Felix offering opportunities, Ellie asking a widower what he knows, Mordecai getting a whiff of something toxic, and Jiayi exploring in the muck.

The Between: Secrets in Lavender (Episode 7) Madelancholy runs for Kathleen Fuller, Mike, and Sabine V. "Enough for Curiosity’s Sake" - The Coven arrives in London. Felix tempts a dock worker for a secret. Ellie shadows a constable. Mordecai captures a sample. The hunters Answer some Questions. At Night, Felix and Mordecai venture out and meet with Danger. Ellie tries to share info and a pint.

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Open Hearth Video Roundup - June 3, 2025

These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every month, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! This month’s collection also includes videos from our recent “May the Fourth: Star Wars Minicon” event. If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our entire library of session videos, please visit our YouTube Playlists page. To hear our recorded sessions in audio-only form, please check out our Playing at the Hearth podcast. Enjoy!

May the Fourth: Star Wars Minicon 2025

Clone Troopers Rich Rogers runs for Jeremiah Frye, Marc Majcher, Steven Watkins, and Will H For May the 4th Be With You Mini-con, we play some Clone Troopers!

Ultraviolet Squadron Lowell Francis runs for Anders, Erik Sofge, Guy Milner, and Tiest A special session for Open Hearth's Star Wars minicon using Clark Valentine's Tachyon Squadron. We meet our squadron of Rebel pilots, pulled in different directions. After an initial skirmish, we see their day-to-day lives briefly before an Imperial attack forces them into a dogfight where they're outnumbered and faced with ghosts of their past.

Jedi Hearts Rich Rogers runs for Jeremiah Frye, Marc Majcher, and Yellow Three young padawans hang out with Kyle Katarn and fight a sith.

Microscope: Star Wars Next Trilogy Writers' Room Lowell Francis runs for Anders, Greg G., Steven Watkins, and Teal It's December of 2012 and The Mouse now has the rights to Star Wars. All over the world, groups are rushing to create pitches for what the next trilogy will look like. We use Microscope to create a "What If?" history, going from the end of Return of the Jedi to the first of a new set of films. Not a definite history, but one of many possibilities. See the end result document here.

Against the Sith Conspiracy Alun R. runs for Jason Zanes, Tiest, and Travis Allison More than 30 years after the Battle of Yavin a cold war between the ruling New Republic and the First Order intensifies. Fearing the Order's intentions Leia Organa has founded the Resistance to act outside Republic restrictions. It is she who has tasked a team comprising the Wookie Special Forces veteran, Kitporin, the Zabrak Counter-Intelligence officer, Kooth Aan, and Lad Reman, the Rodian Tech, to thwart a First Order plot to find her brother, Luke. Their initial lead takes them to a Hutt wedding party on Coruscant's level 1313. When it devolves into chaos they identify several potential Sith or their sympathisers. Only when they bait a hook do they discover the net of lies set to catch them...

Protect the Child Donogh runs for Marc Majcher and Steven Watkins After rescuing Grogu from the clutches of the Pyke, two ne'er-do-wells on Tatooine attempt to safeguard the child by smuggling him off-world. Zara Vex, the smooth-talking Crimson Dawn criminal and Saper, the Lepi Rogue-for-hire sneak past an Imperial check-point, undertake a heist to steal a survey droid (along with two bored scout troopers) and deal with the Jawas who want some sweet salvage to boot...

Open Hearth Gaming Calendar

Sunken Hearts: The Deepening Gulf (Session 14) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack Mr. Suit reunites with the group and we learn more about the nature of the goblins. Together again, the foursome makes their way through the house, discovering two very different spaces carved out by the sinister missing Sunken, as well as a door which refuses to yield to them...

Sunken Hearts: The Deepening Gulf (Session 15) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack Having left the island, the group reconvenes to talk about next steps. As they recover and consider the costs for what they have gained, we see flashbacks into the lives of several of them. Marrow searches for information and confronts his own ongoing Sinking. Meanwhile, Superbowl Sunday looms...

Sunken Hearts: The Deepening Gulf (Session 16) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack Heartfelt talks between the protagonists as they try to decide next steps. That leads them back to the Island and the House in the Undertow. There they confront what seems to be the Blood Creature which hunted Mr. Suit, but there's more to its identity than what they expected. That dealt with they return to the last locked room in the house and prepare to brute force open it...

Sunken Hearts: The Deepening Gulf (Session 17) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack Preparation for Mr Suit's party continues, even as the group investigates who among the Hands of the Courts is suborned and which among the Dukes is a fake. Aldo and Lily discovered the awful truth about Count Zero and then recruit a goblin to aid them in hunting down doppelgangers. Mr Suit speaks with two of the immortals. Marrow deals with his sinking and tries to get an audience with his Duke, leading to a tense standoff with the Hand of Lanterns, Bayman.

Writers' Room: X-Men - After Xavier Anders runs for Marc Majcher and Rod Santos We create an outline for a hypothetical live action X-Men show set after the death of Charles Xavier, where Scott, Logan, and Ororo have to deal with the threat of the Hellfire Club...and whoever is pulling their strings.

Writers' Room: Shadowrun Anders runs for Alun R. and Sabine V. We create a Shadowrun TV series.

Writers' Room: The Flight of the Kosmo Anders runs for Rod Santos and Tiest In this playtest session of Writers' Room, we create a teen military sci-fi show inspired by Battlestar Galactica, RoboTech, and StarBlazers.

Writers' Room: Star Trek Anders runs for Gabe, Gerwyn Walters, and Jim Likes Games A playtest of Writers' Room where we create a new live action Star Trek show.

Our Haunt (Session 3 of 4) David S. facilitates for Sabine V. and Steven S. Autumn experiences a vivid realization of how she died, losing her doll eyes and restoring her old eyes in the process. Mirage uncovers the truth of their birth and how they came to the Snow Queen, and The Witch disrupts a centuries-old ritual in defiance of an old Hag's Eye.

Our Haunt (Session 4 of 4) David S. facilitates for Sabine V. and Steven S. A bittersweet finale. With the assistance of The Witch, both Autumn and Mirage discover their own ways of moving on.

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 6) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Donogh, Jo Lene, and Will H "Right Hand of Darkness" - Acting-Captain Ward is taunted by Reagani Vost as sabotage on the Kintsugi prevents the ship from contacting the away team or beaming them up. Meanwhile on planet, the team evades the Lattice Empress's forces and tries to reach the House of Candles and the Farseers. But the situation becomes more dire with the arrival of a pair of Dominion vessels and a betrayal on the ground.

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Lower Decks) (Session 7) Lowell Francis runs for Donogh, Jo Lene, and Will H "The Galadriel Incident: Lower Decks" - With much of the command staff off answering questions about the events at Epsilon Umbra III, our chief medical officer takes the captain's seat...a little unwillingly. We get a chance to meet some of our ship's ensigns as they participate in the rescue of a Klingon ship. Then they're drafted into a search mission with a strange non-Federation envoy with a hidden agenda.

Star Trek Adventures 2E: Kintsugi (Session 8) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Donogh, Jo Lene, and Will H "Search & Rescue" - In the face of ongoing Dominion gains, the Kintsugi is tasked with a series of readiness drills. Captain Vate finally makes a decision about his first officer, and not a moment too soon. When the ship picks up a distress call, they rush to a scene of devastation and a battle against a pair of enemy ships.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 15) Marc Majcher runs for Heath, Mike Ferdinando, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, our caravan briefly rested at the Behemoth Shell before mounting an expedition up another ossified giant into a floating park full of poison gas and tasty fruit.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 16) Marc Majcher runs for Agatha, Heath, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, Epate brings news (and a sack of cash for Modon) from the Last Serai of a polybody-cat wedding, dreams of Long, Long ago Behemoths, Adoron opens their third eye, and Ottokar shamefully transforms into a shudder human due to lunar proximity.

The Ultraviolet Grasslands (Session 17) Marc Majcher runs for Agatha, Heath, and Teal This week in the Ultraviolet Grasslands, our caravan takes a little break at the Behemoth shell to recover a bit, negotiate with some sentient fungus carpets after a wolf attack, and have a lovely tea party with an eloquent naked mole rat hive mind in a ruined biomancer's lab.

Star Wars Saturday

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 3) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Greg G., Steven Watkins, and Will H The Argovian mission!

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 4) Rich Rogers runs for Greg G., Kae, and Steven Watkins The team starts their mission to save the Obas base!

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 5) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Greg G., and Kae The crew completes Mission Meltdown!

HyperspaceD6: Tapani (Session 6) Rich Rogers runs for Anders, Greg G., Kae, and Steven Watkins On New Shella, the crew takes a job to get someone off planet and it goes all kinds of wrong.

(more in second post continued here)

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Defy the Gods Kickstarter is LIVE now!

Chris (HecticElectron), creator of Raccoon Sky Pirates, just launched the kickstarter for their newest game, Defy the Gods!

"Defy the Gods is a tabletop role-playing game of daring adventure, passionate romance and cursed power, set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. Inspired by Conan, Clash of the Titans and Princess Mononoke, it brings queer love and resistance to sword & sorcery role-play."

If you enjoyed our actual play of Raccoon Sky Pirates or this concept of game interests you, please consider backing the Kickstarter! Supporting independent game designers is more important now than ever.