Episodes

Beware, ye who enter “The Crack’d and Crook’d Manse”! In this spooky seasonal episode, Jordy, Lisa and Sean investigate a classic module republished in Call of Cthulhu 7th Editition’s Mansions of Madness, Vol 1. We discuss the murder house trope, copious red herrings, mysterious letters, and whether the players should know the name of their fears. Note: Chaosium recently made the decision to change the original name of Shub-Gorath. You can read more about the update here. CW: sanity, harm to a...

This week, Jordy and Lisa are all about the money. We discuss Jordy’s foray into quantum quest-writing, crowdfunding (and Kickstarter fatigue), and personal hobby economics. Note: Academia Arcana is available for pre-order! As a supplement to this convo, Bright Bard Games recently blogged about their successful experience vending at GenCon with a group of other indie publishers–it’s a worthwhile read for small games creators and the people looking to see them thrive. CW: finances Pax Deorum ...

Kneel before us, mortals, as Sean, Jordy and Lisa chase immortality in Lichdom, a solo roleplaying game about sorcerers reaching for eternal life. We discuss inciting events, pesky interlopers, the highs and lows of probability, mastering your own game, and playing with fate. Note: A limited print rerun of Lichdom: Immortal Edition is Kickstarting soon, for ye nefarious mages. CW: undeath, suicide Lichdom is written by Adrian Lopez Sanjuan and published by Feral Wizard. Intro excerpt from Li...

For this doubly special episode, Lisa and Sean convene with special guest Mel the GM to review our first-ever system agnostic adventure: Broken Heart of the Castle! We discuss beastly curses, burying your gays, a hair-trigger confrontation, and, inexplicably, another duck. Note: “Sleeping Heart of the Garden” is Cloud Curio’s woodsy system neutral entry CW: “Bury your gays” trope “Broken Heart of the Castle” is written by SC Ormond and published by Cloud Curio. You can find Mel at @MeltheGM ...

Welcome back to another Sidebar with Lisa and Sean! This week, we discuss our gaming family tree and how our roots spread. Theme music credited to Zane Little. New to the show? Check out our links: https://linktr.ee/episodicadventures Have gaming opinions or questions? Email us at episodicmailbag@gmail.com.

This week, Sean, Jordy, and Lisa descend into a downright Jaquaysian tangle of tunnels in search of the “Dark Tower,” a fantasy game aid for AD&D. We discuss the joy, humor, and mischief of Jaquays’ design, leading with artifacts, the horrible hall of the silent ball, and a super-secret hidden (main) boss, plus the hosts share their hot slash fic of the dungeon denizens. “Dark Tower” is written by Jennell Jaquays and originally published by Judges Guild in 1980. It was restored and re-released ...

Grab a blade from the pile and join Jordy, Lisa, and Sean in arms with Temple of 1000 Swords, an adventure module for Old-School Essentials. We discuss rusty swords, random swords and secret swords, the maternal instincts of cannibalistic duck-men, and playing god (of swords). CW: body horror “Temple of 1000 Swords” is written and published by Brad Kerr. Old-School Essentials is designed by Gavin Norman and published by Necrotic Gnome. Theme music credited to Zane Little. New to the show? C...

Ahoy! Join Sean, Jordy, and Lisa for another nautical escapade in “The Temple of Endless Sea,” a Dragonbane adventure location from Arkand – City of Waves and Flame. We discuss water cult anthropology, a rowdy cityscape, trying not to drown, and swan men of mystery. CW: Cults, demons, drowning, self-harm (drowning), thalassophobia Arkand – City of Waves and Flame and Dragonbane are published by Free League Publishing. Theme music credited to Zane Little. New to the show? Check out our links:...

Weekend bonus episode Surprise Round! In this con special, Sean follows up with three of the wizards of Wizard Staffing Co., a cohort of tabletop roleplaying game enthusiasts and event runners, to discuss their time at Gen Con 2026. Mel, Jonah, and Evan discuss games played and ran, con highlights, and lessons learned. Note: A database of the ENTIRE, LIFETIME catalogue of Gen Con events is available through the Best 50 Years in Gaming! Enjoy, fellow lookie-loos! Wizard Staffing Co. Mel’s IG: @...

Follow Lisa, Jordy, and Sean as they stumble into nostalgia with the DIE RPG quickstart. We discuss multi-layered characters, improvised encounters, and memory–in both a poetic and practical sense. Note: While we do not refer to it in the review, the name of the module in the quickstart is “The Dreams We Had As Children.” Also, in the comic, the dictator can affect the other players with her ability. Scary! CW: Derealization, toxic friendship dynamics Interview with Kieron about DIE the comic...

On this week’s Sidebar episode, Sean and Lisa examine - gasp - GMs who don’t run modules. We discuss when to run or bail on a module, creativity challenges, and our con updates. GMs who never run prewritten adventures Theme music credited to Zane Little. New to the show? Check out our links: https://linktr.ee/episodicadventures Have gaming opinions or questions? Email us at episodicmailbag@gmail.com.

Hail, listeners! This week, Jordy, Lisa, and Sean seek the myths, honor the seers, and protect the realm in “What a Horrible Knight,” an introductory “choose-your-own-adventure” module for Mythic Bastionland. We discuss hyperlinked, spiral-bound, higgledy-piggledy caves, the quest for glory, brutal traps, and rolling on the ominous noises table. Note: While we are no longer active on Instagram, we have a shiny new YouTube channel, complete with all of our episodes! You can also find us on Blues...

Welcome to Season 2 of Episodic Adventures! Lisa, Jordy, and Sean are kicking things off with a sci-fi noir investigation in “Murder In Metal City,” a deluxe introductory boxed set adventure for Starfinder Second Edition. We discuss adventure paths, lore dumps via handouts and frantic Wikipedia scrolling, and an evasive, shadowy villain. Note: With Meta sinking to new lows (what’s new?), we are planning to move away from Instagram and towards Bluesky as our social media platform of choice. Catc...