RTFM

About RTFM

Maxwell Lander is an educator and photographer in eastern Canada. Aaron King is an editor and collage artist in the Midwestern US. They're both game designers, and together, they read RPG books, find the good bits, and discuss them critically. Welcome to RTFM.

Publisher

RTFM

Category

leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Feb 2022

Latest episode

26 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 88 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   26 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   RTFM - FIST

   Game designer Satah joins hosts Max Lander and Aaron King to discuss the RPG FIST, uncovering its mechanics and lore for listeners.

2. 

   29 Apr 2026

   RTFM: Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game

   Sam Dunnewold of the Dice Exploder podcast (https://diceexploder.com/) joins us to talk about the Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game. We also discuss Sam's currently crowdfunding Band-Aids & Bullet Holes (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sdunnewold/band-aids-and-bullet-holes). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Max Lander⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://maxwellander.itch.io/) and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aaron King⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://erinking.itch.io/) dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠join our Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://bytes.rip/rtfm). And ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠check us out on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.patreon.com/rtfmcast) for extra episodes!

3. 

   16 Apr 2026

   RTFM: Almost

   Logan Timmins (https://breathingstories.itch.io/) joins us to discuss "Almost" by Jay Dragon (https://jaydragonwrites.itch.io/some-of-my-old-games). We discuss lyric games in general, close reading, and kissing. And check out Logan's podcast, Lyrical Ludology, now crowdfunding a second season (https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/nimael/lyrical-ludology-season-2). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Max Lander⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://maxwellander.itch.io/) and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aaron King⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://erinking.itch.io/) dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠join our Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://bytes.rip/rtfm). And ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠check us out on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.patreon.com/rtfmcast) for extra episodes!

Inside a recent episode

RTFM - FIST

Published 26 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And so now you have to make a new goal on the next one, which would be your full success. You meet your goal. That doesn't mean you like finished everything and then mixed success is, you know, something different, something different happens. And I think like, I love moves. I love PBTA. I like that this game is as open as it is because for me as a GM, when I run a game, when I run Fist, when I run stuff that runs off the same engine as Fist, I feel like I'm playing more because I am being invited into those specific like, okay, well, here's where we're volleying ideas back and forth. Here is like my contribution to you set a goal, you had a mixed success. cool, I'm going to play with the thing you said, like where we are creating this thing together. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.6 / 5

29 ratings

Spotify

4.3 / 5

63 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 38 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

43

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

84

Contact RTFM

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about RTFM