GM talk with memory, monsters, and dice.
The Red Dice Diaries treats tabletop role-playing as a lived hobby, not a product checklist. John, Hannah, and occasional guests talk through D&D memories, Warhammer tangents, horror one-shot structures, lethal combat, and the social rewards of gaming with friends.
PRESS PLAY
The Red Dice Diaries is a tabletop RPG conversation show built around memory, practical GM thinking, and the social pleasure of play. John talks about D&D, Warhammer, OSR games, horror setups, old books, and the habits that make campaigns hold together. The pace is informal. It often feels like listening in after a game night, when someone asks how a system first clicked or why a certain scenario shape still works. Recent episodes spend time with D&D as a common starting point, even when guests first encountered other games. Matthew Bryan looks back over online gaming history with John, including Warhammer’s Enemy Within campaign and the pull back toward D&D experience. Rob Benefer’s conversation widens that frame through Conspiracy X, Cyberpunk 2020, and the idea that D&D is often the game people recognize first. Solo episodes lean more reflective. The Fantasy Wargaming discussion is affectionate but not blind, treating Martin Hackett’s Games with Magic & Monsters as a nostalgic, messy bridge between wargaming and role-playing. With Hannah, the show becomes more immediate and playful. Taverns vs Monsters turns films such as Sinners, Slay, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Grabbers into a compact RPG premise: an isolated pub, a ready-made cast, and a threat pressing in. OOC Intervals follows the same practical instinct, asking how out-of-character pauses can help or hinder play. Preparing for Lethal Situations in RPGs considers danger at the table without reducing it to rules alone. RPGaDay episodes use prompts such as Experience and Reward to ask what players actually value. Sometimes that means titles, treasure, or sweeties-as-XP. More often, it means shared time and making friends smile. Listener voicemails from Riley and Evil Jeff reinforce the show’s small, participatory scene. The result is warm, opinionated hobby talk for people who enjoy tabletop games as stories, systems, memories, and friendships all tangled together.
Made for: Best suited for tabletop RPG players, GMs, and hobbyists who enjoy conversational analysis of D&D, Warhammer, OSR play, horror one-shots, and campaign craft. It also fits listeners who like personal gaming history alongside practical table ideas.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its lived-in hobby perspective: old books, gaming history, listener voicemails, and film-inspired scenarios all become material for better play. It feels less like a review desk and more like an experienced table thinking aloud.
A journey through the world of RPGs from the viewpoint of a long-time GM and player. RSS feed: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1812670.rssWhere else to find me: https://wheretofind.me/@ReddicediariesLeave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/RDDRPGPodcast reddicediaries.substack.com
A glowing graveyard specter meets D&D edition talk, with your next campaign idea lurking nearby.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A report at Eugene Graves's door opens into a graveyard sighting, a family apparition, and an ending of ash and cleansing wind.
Strange Fruit Part 2 opens with the young Blackthorn at Eugene Graves's door, bringing word of an assault, then moves into a lantern-lit search behind the church with Reverend Billington and Eric.
A compact folklore roundup that turns strange monsters into ready-made adventure hooks.
The Red Dice Diaries episode settles into a lively tour of the folklore bestiary from the Merry Mushmen, with John touching on the old-school Essentials preview and noting that a 5e version is also part of the Kickstarter.
A warm tabletop chat about editions, GMing, and how friendship carries a campaign across rulesets.
The Red Dice Diaries' conversation with Matthew Bryan opens less like a lesson plan than a catch-up between old gaming friends. John and Bryan look back on more than 10 years at the table, from an early Warhammer: The Enemy Within campaign to D&D editions, GMing, and the…
Wrestling toy talk with full collector brain.
John from Red Dice Diaries interviews Matthew Bryan about his D&D journey.
In this fantasy role-playing episode, Count Snarok shares his backstory about being prevented from fighting in the Great War and settling in the frontier estate of Last Hope with his wife, while discussing future plans with the heroes.
Host John previews the Folklore Bestiary, a Kickstarter project by the Merry Mushmen featuring monsters drawn from global myths.
The Red Dice Diaries host John interviews Matthew Bryan about entering D&D through fourth edition in 2008 at age 23, after first learning about the game through the Inquisitions Incorporated podcast.
The Red Dice Diaries interviews Rob Benford about entering Dungeons & Dragons through Conspiracy X, Cyberpunk 2020, and a long Third Edition campaign.
John reviews Martin Hackett's Fantasy Wargaming: Games with Magic and Monsters, a book he borrowed more than a dozen times from his local library before owning a copy.
Jon of The Red Dice Diaries argues that brief out-of-character intervals can clarify consequences, smooth gameplay, and protect group enjoyment during role-playing sessions.
This episode discusses the recurring theme in movies where pubs or taverns are besieged by monsters, exploring how this setup can be adapted into a one-shot role-playing game scenario.
This episode discusses how to prepare for potentially lethal combat situations in role-playing games (RPGs), with hosts John and Hannah sharing insights and strategies.
The hosts discuss the concept of rewards in tabletop RPGs, focusing on the social aspects like making friends happy and spending quality time together rather than just in-game items like experience points or treasure.
The hosts discuss alternative reward systems in RPGs beyond traditional experience points, exploring ideas like in-game titles and tangible progression markers.
Agnes welcomes Father Billington to Druid's Hill, describes the May Day Festival route, and notices Tiberius Blackthorn's arrival.
The hosts discuss a new D&D collectible magazine that includes a set of dice and a tin, evaluating its value and appeal to RPG enthusiasts.