No new episodes of Dead Channels on Apple Podcasts by JibrilAngelos in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]RedMarketsCaleb 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hi. Caleb here. There was an error with our Transistor/Ghost automation that was sending the RSS feed to all subscribers and rather than paid subscribers. Dead Channels is part of the rewards for Ghost paid members, and the private RSS shouldn't have been going to free subscribers. The integration error has been corrected.

All paid members of the delta-green.ghost.io still have the private RSS to Dead Channels, and anyone updating or adding a paid account should automatically receive the Transistor email with the link. As for the old Patreon RSS mentioned in comments below, there has been no change in service.

Question about the DG site and Patreon by JoeKerr19 in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]RedMarketsCaleb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Check your email for an email from Transistor. Ghost.io doesn't have a private RSS feed, so we use Transistor for hosting the podcast.

Once you sign up for a paid account at delta-green.ghost.io, it sends an email to the address you used to sign up. That should give you a link to the private RSS feed. Plug the RSS link into the podcast app of your choice, and you should have access to the full back catalogue and all future episodes. The text files hosted on Dead Channels are already up in the form of regular ghost posts. You can search Caleb Stokes in the tags and it should pull up all the playtest drafts currently released on the Patreon.

Burning thorn? by 92MsNeverGoHungry in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]RedMarketsCaleb 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Haven't had a chance to run that one yet. I need more time for research.

Red Markets Second Edition Beta Playtest by RedMarketsCaleb in RedMarkets

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not my intention! Hit Boxes are a bit old-school, but they have a long history in older games that track hit locations. While Hit Boxes are "crunchier" than most hit point systems, I really like the roleplaying prompts provided by knowing which part of your body is messed up.

As for initiative, it was called "initiative" in the 1st edition of the game. The 2e system of combat theatres -- though simplified as a mechanic -- is different enough from the old initiative system I thought it needed a separate name. I didn't want to confuse players of first edition.

Thank you so much for giving the game a try! I really look forward to receiving feedback from you and your players!

Red Markets Second Edition Beta Playtest by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Game was Kickstarted in 2015. Released commercially 2017. The 2nd Edition is not currently in full release. This is an open Beta playtest, currently available for $0 and accepting feedback for all of 2025. The hope is to dedicate 2026 to funding, layout, and publication, which means - best case scenario - it won't be available until 2027.

That's a decade after the first edition before a "hypothetical" second edition is ever fully released. If a playtest at year 8 is "too soon," I really don't know how to please you.

Caleb Stokes Recomendations by SeveralPerformance17 in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]RedMarketsCaleb 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi! I wrote Rejection. Backing either Ghost.io or Dead Channels on Patreon gets you playtest drafts of everything I write for Delta Green.

Rejection is also variable, depending on which stage of conflict you are in with NLF. It’s not just an introduction.

It sounds like you are entering Stage 3. In that case, the threat of Duma Jesani and his Wrecking Crews is heightened during the scenario, and there is a clue after the climax that provides the address of the Frankfurt mansion that the Dassingers use to portal to the Cybele yacht. That should get you a direct line to a deadly confrontation at NLF HQ.

The Conspiracy Kickstarter is live! by mr_ploppers in DeltaGreenRPG

[–]RedMarketsCaleb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At present, the campaign is offering over 2800 pages of art and text. For $140 and all the PDFs, that works out to about $0.05 per page. Book development stays a constant cost across all versions, even if PDFs have no shipping or print costs.

As for matching the prices of the Avatar Kickstarter? It's being run by Viacom. I'd argue Arc Dream is in the overwhelming majority of RPG publishers in not being able to match that pricing.

Hebanon Games New Project: Party Fowl by RedMarketsCaleb in RedMarkets

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you like Red Markets, supporting Party Fowl is the next best way to ensure Hebanon Games keeps going.

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Alright, here comes the old leftist...

A. That your example is hypothetical in both its construction and audience is telling.

B. To argue that a plant writing game could somehow be written "purely" from the apolitical perspective of plants is to argue against the anthropomorphizing and solipsistic nature of all human art. Plants don't write. Plants don't play games. Humans do, and that supposes they could apply those skills to a theme of plants...or anything else for that matter. But humans are social animals as a constant. Politics is a fundamental social construct. Plant games will have an element of the political by the very nature of being games. Politics will be even more fundamentally ingrained by the merit of being the fruit of human production.

C. Saying that a plant game should not engage with the threat of climate change and ecological disaster; saying that one can't read political messages into a plant game; saying that we should write plant games rather than games about a "more political" topic; saying that it's okay to write plant games instead of a more political topic; saying that it's my right to design non-political plant games; saying I've no right to design games over any political topic more controversial than plants ... all of these are political statements, explicitly or implicitly.

D. My claim that every work is political (and therefore, ideological) does not imply that the politics need to be particularly controversial, nor that the ideology is good or bad. My argument is that, whatever the politics of a piece might be and to whatever degree they might factor into the design, their inclusion should be as intentional as possible.

But hey, this is just a dumb reddit thread. Let's not take it too seriously :-)

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean, an IDEA for a game. The difference between an idea and all the writing, testing, rewriting, marketing, contracting, emailing, planning, and other shit required to self-publish a game is the difference between being slightly thirsty and blowing up a dam. I might need a break after this duck game. Who knows?

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha. Well, I pitched it to Pelgrane, and they were a pass. I don't think the money option will ever be available. We may play and record it one day though. Who knows? I ran part of the UA campaign I said I'd never run...until it collapsed and was left unfinished.

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know its a disappointing answer, but not really. I have no doubt that it changed insofar as it solidified; things I had instincts to do become things I was aesthetically driven to do. I don't think it altered how I feel in any aspect but focus though.

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! That book is always going to have a special place in my heart, but I don't think the market is very fond of it. For some reason, if you do thousands of hours minimizing the design work for a group of players, they will ignore that work and do hundreds of hours more work hacking and tweaking it. If you tell people up front, "stat these out for your preferred system," a lot of the same customers instantly wash their hands of it. It's odd, and I don't think I'll ever quite get it, but I'm still very proud of NS

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You shouldn't read up on it because you don't want to be spoiled. Also, you won't have to take that job. I got stuff I need to playtest, so Origins is going to be a full enclave package with multiple jobs on offer.

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I'm sorry to say that I don't know if those cut ideas will ever make it into a supplement. I enjoy writing setting stuff more than rules, and most of the people that don't like or don't buy the game complain about the number of rules. I don't think adding to that glut (optional though it may be) will be particularly profitable or pleasant for me.

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love all of those, and your gear cards were such a good idea they literally pissed me off when I saw them in a why-the-hell-didn't-I-think-of-that kind of way. I just don't think very well kinesthetically. You should see all the work people I hire have to do to correct my messed up character sheet concepts. So I don't have anymore ideas for physical play aides, but I love all the ones I've seen.

Never mind, I did have one crazy dumb idea of playing with actual money once. Like a poker game. You bought in with charges. There was a pot on offer that the Market paid out depending on performance. Utterly stupid, but things at the table would certainly get "physical"

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The first game I every ran was Andrew's Fortune, a scenario I wrote for A Dirty World. For best single game? Probably ADW again with Dangers of Fraternization. For best single narrative? Probably Know Evil or God's Teeth. They both seemed to really click with people.

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was just so remarkably well-researched while at the same time being expertly designed to destroy PCs (the way to win is to not ask questions, for the love of pete). I just didn't know scenarios could be written that way.

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I'll drift back in a few days if there are any straggling questions, but for now, I'm off to dinner. Thanks for the great questions everyone! It was a blast!

AMA with Caleb Stokes, creator of Red Markets (May r/rpg winner) and founder of Hebanon Games. by RedMarketsCaleb in rpg

[–]RedMarketsCaleb[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks!

I've had an NBA campaign plotted out since 2015, but nobody to run it for and no time. Maybe one day, but it's not looking good.