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Roll For Topic

Roll For Topic

GM/DM discussions on topics related to running tabletop games. Each episode is a 30-45 minute conversation about one specific topic chosen by rolling 1d10 on a table of topics.

Roll for Topic's regular cohosts are Andy Rau and Chris Salzman. If you or your GM is interested in being a guest, drop us a line!

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  • 21 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 38 min
  • English

Episodes 21

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  • Thursday · 27 min

    Episode 201 – Chris Explores Forbidden Island

    Chris gets a real-life taste of what it’s like to explore a mysterious location! Also, Andy asks for recommendations for a straightforward sci-fi RPG that isn’t space horror.

  • August 13 · 45 min

    Episode 200 – Get Rid of it All

    Chris talks about Dungeon Crawler Carl again and then Andy and Chris talk about getting rid of their collections of stuff! It’s episode 200! Thank you for listening!

  • July 30 · 34 min

    Episode 199 – Charismatic Villains and Tough Moral Decisions

    Chris is second-guessing a tough choice he made in a recent game. What makes for a good, genuine tough moral choice in an RPG? Is it something the GM can (or should) deliberately create and build toward? This, plus discussion about which D&D class be

  • July 16 · 30 min

    Episode 198: World Cup Fever

    Chris somehow manages to bring his obsession with the World Cup into the podcast. Andy humors him and they talk about running games within games.

  • July 2 · 36 min

    Episode 197 – Building Wizard City

    What’s actually useful for a GM to know about a city or other adventuring location? Chris and Andy discuss how to take the “Wizard City” theme of this year’s RfT Con and turn it into a gameable place. Plus, more on GMing with kids

  • June 4 · 33 min

    Episode 195 – T1 Prep

    Chris is prepping T1: The Village of Hommlet to run this summer. Andy and Chris talk all about it!

  • May 21 · 30 min

    Episode 194 – Chris in the Candy Store

    Chris has a lot of store credit to spend on TTRPG goodies. What will Andy pressure him into picking up? Around this important question, Chris and Andy fit a discussion of the importance of books as physical artifacts, the allure of those early iconic RPG

  • May 7 · 22 min

    Episode 193 – Elric! and Others

    With a new Elric RPG announced, Chris and Andy discuss what their dream Eternal Champion game might look like. Plus, Chris discovers Christopher Priest’s The Prestige and Andy glumly reports about the (non)state of his Band of Blades game.

  • April 23 · 35 min

    Episode 192 – Third Time’s a Charm

    Andy talks about an upcoming game he’s kicking off. It’ll be the 3rd time he’s tried it! They gush about forged in the dark, talk about the value of running campaigns, and discuss building dungeons with random tables.

  • April 9 · 29 min

    Episode 191 – Bringing Real-life Locations to the Game Table

    Chris explored a cave recently! That brings Andy and Chris to discuss the challenge of injecting the thrill of real-world locations into their in-game versions. Can a fantasy game about fighting goblins in caves convey some of that real-world excitement?

  • March 26 · 32 min

    Episode 190 – Props at the Game Table Revisited

    Chris has been busy building props for a school play, and wonders how some of that energy might be expressed at the game table! Also, Andy and Chris discuss the joys of history and the ways they do and don’t make history and culture an important pa

  • March 12 · 38 min

    Episode 189 – Do You Let Players Respec Their Characters?

    Lots to catch up on this episode, including the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, edgelord vampire roleplaying from the 1990s, and Chris’ dilemma as a player: can he respec a PC that isn’t mechanically working the way he intended?

  • February 12 · 34 min

    Episode 187 – Antarctic Cthulhu Weekend After-action Report

    Andy’s back from his weekend GMing an Antarctic Cthulhu campaign, and Chris has questions! Topics covered include the value of creating special game events like this, the challenge of fighting a long campaign into a short weekend, and more.

  • January 29 · 16 min

    Episode 186 – What Games Do You Bring on Trips?

    Chris is heading off on a work trip, so discussion turns to which RPGs or board games you squeeze into your suitcase when traveling. With snow days and work trips imposing on our schedules, it’s a short episode–but we’ll be back next ep

  • January 15 · 44 min

    Episode 185 – Catch up

    Andy and Chris have a lot to talk about! They discuss Splatbook, how the build-a-dungeon/play-a-dungeon went, the worst part of the D&D ruleset, Shadowdark, and Andy’s upcoming weekend game in a secluded cottage.

  • January 1 · 1 hr 31 min

    Episode 184 – Play-a-Dungeon 2025: Kaiju vs. Theme Park Employees

    It’s time to play this year’s “Build-a-Dungeon”! Chris GMs a party of five intrepid amusement park employees as they try to save the fair from a rampaging kaiju. This is part of our annual tradition wherein we create an adventure

  • Dec 18, 2025 · 1 hr 31 min

    Episode 183 – Build-a-Dungeon 2025: Kaiju vs. Theme Park Employees

    This is part 1 of our 2 part Build-A-Dungeon Play-a-Dungeon special for 2025! Chris and Andy are joined, yet again, by John Corey and Kyle Latino! In this episode we brainstorm and build out a one shot adventure that Chris will run in the following episo

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes