Red Game Table: Recent Episodes
Utopologist
A podcast of communists playing original table-top roleplaying game campaigns. Each season is self-contained, but all of the Matryoshka seasons are in the same continuity and world. If you're new, start at episode 1 of Season 2 (The One Who Knows the Silence in the Earth)!
Music from each episode is listed here: https://redgametable.wordpress.com/
For comments, questions, or just to talk, you can email me at utopologist@protonmail.com.
The team investigates a newly uncovered island in the Aral Sea which contains a stone staircase leading into the earth.
[Note: Nikolai disappears in the middle of the sesssion for a while but he does return by the end. We apologize for the inconvenience.]
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and find Johnny's show Subversive History on his Linktree.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of version 1.5 of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but can't pay anything, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone.
The crew of Soviet space station Salyut 7 investigate an unexpected visitor.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and find Johnny's show Subversive History on his Linktree.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of version 1.5 of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone.
The team joins their KGB comrade to go into the caves underneath the cabin in the woods.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina's labor news podcast Work Stoppage, find Johnny's show Subversive History on his Linktree, and listen to Jeremy here.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of version 1.5 of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone.
Katya and Yahyo investigate a musical performance that caused its audience to go berserk.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and find Johnny's show Subversive History on his Linktree.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of version 1.5 of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone.
The entire population of a town near the Pacific coast of the RSFSR disappears overnight and the Vladivostok branch of Division 3 is brought in to find where they went and how to bring them back.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and find Johnny's content on his Linktree.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of version 1.5 of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone.
Taken 11 Nov 1964 by field agent K. Artemov at Clinical Hospital No. 2, Vladivostok, RSFSR
(h/t R. Lentz)
Matryoshka and their Yugoslav comrades make a plan with the Ct'kathka to drive the imperialists out of the sea.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and watch Johnny's twitch stream Subversive History.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here. Version 2 will be released after the conclusion of Season 3.
The squad goes to Yugoslavia to help investigate reports of a large and dangerous bird-/fish-like creature in a small Croatian town on the Adriatic.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and watch Johnny's twitch stream Subversive History.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here. Version 2 will be released after the conclusion of Season 3.
Pavel joins Mels and Emiliano as they return to the Blessed Theotokos Monastery to confront what lies beneath it.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and watch Johnny's twitch stream Subversive History.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
Mels and Emiliano go to the Tajik SSR to investigate a plane that went down near Communism Peak under very bizarre circumstances.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and watch Johnny's twitch stream Subversive History.
Talk with other listeners in the Work Stoppage discord.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
Mels and Pavel head to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic to find a pair of researchers who disappeared while camping on a deceptively plain-looking tract of land.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com. Listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage and watch Johnny's twitch stream Subversive History.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
The special investigators, joined by a former agent who specialized in the paranormal, come up with a plan to protect the people of Leningrad from the horrors below.
Featuring Jeremy from Invent The Future and A Terrible Influence.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com, and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
Underneath Vaduz, the team must navigate an unfamiliar and unfriendly labyrinth to accomplish their mission.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com, and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
With the city of Leningrad under siege from the Nazis, a group investigates an interruption in bread delivery and discovers a much darker explanation than they could have dreamed of.
Featuring Jeremy from Invent The Future and A Terrible Influence.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com, and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
The trio must go undercover in Liechtenstein to get their hands on a dangerous artifact before any other more nefarious ones can.
For comments or questions, email utopologist@protonmail.com, and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
The team find themselves stranded in the Belarussian forest in the middle of a blizzard, and something is driving the animals out of their minds.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
After a Soviet submarine in the Mediterranean disappears while hunting for the rumored French stay-behind submarine, the team heads for its last known location in hopes of finding both it and the imperialists.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
Matryoshka investigates the disappearances of everyone on a collective farm on the border of Estonia and Russia.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone. Physical copies (which contain some additional art and game content) can be ordered here.
Emiliano summons Pavel and Mels to Algeria to help investigate sightings of figures coming out of the sea to take iron and steel back into the Mediterranean.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka: Cosmic Horror Investigation in the Cold War USSR can be downloaded at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka. It's pay-what-you-want, so if you want the book but have nothing, you are just as welcome to the book as anyone.
In September 1962, a pair of Matryoshka agents go to the forests of Cuba to help investigate a series of unexplained eclipses.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Lina and Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
Music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.com.
The pdf of Matryoshka will be downloadable very soon at utopologist.itch.io/matryoshka.
A midnight conference call lets Division C know about a missing member of the team, which in turn leads them up close and personal with enemies they've only heard about until now.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
Once it's completed, the link to download the rulebook for Matryoshka will be shared here.
The gang gets a tip from an old friend that sends them to Beirut, Lebanon to get some more clues about what's going on.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
Imprisoned by enemy forces, Matryoshka searches for a way to escape as well as to find out what the US Navy is protecting in the middle of the ocean as far away from land as possible.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
In December 1991 amidst the chaos of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Tselinograd branch of Matryoshka is sent to rural Kazakhstan to investigate reports of people being "replaced."
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
The gang goes to interrogate their prisoner and ends up where they least expect.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
Donatas and Pavel go to investigate what appears to be the victim of a fatal industrial accident coming back to life during his funeral.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
In 1919, the British and the Americans have invaded Russia to support the White Russians in putting down the new socialist government. What's left of a Red Army machine gun unit make their way to Arkhangelsk to help take it back from the Whites and the imperialists, but along the way they encounter a fearsome mechanical foe that may be more than it appears.
The regular campaign will resume next episode!
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
Matryoshka goes to Geneva to meet with a possible ally and ends up having to plan an art heist.
There are all kinds of weird audio things happening with Dan and M; sorry about that.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com
Pavel and Donatas head to the Arctic to find out why a Soviet research station went silent.
Apologies for the audio artifacts in Dan's audio; we don't know what caused it and minimized it as much as we could.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com
Matryoshka is sent to the German Democratic Republic to investigate the appearance of some bodies burned in a ritual manner.
Apologies for the audio artifacts in Dan's audio; we don't know what caused it and minimized it as much as we could.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com and listen to Dan's labor news podcast Work Stoppage.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com
GRU Division C is back! It's 1969. While making plans to deal with some of the unsolved mysteries from the previous year, Matryoshka's home office undergoes some bizarre changes.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
At the time of recording I didn't know about it, but make sure to check out Dan's other show Work Stoppage all about labor news!
(This was supposed to be released in the middle of some December holidays, but various factors including some COVID scares prevented this. However, I've been told that on the liturgical calendar, it's Christmas until Epiphany on January 6, so I'm clear.)
Matryoshka is sent to Arkhangelsk to investigate the mysterious disappearance of some children and the sightings of an odd bearded man who may be the only suspect.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
The season finale. The team, along with their new ally Jurgen, track down De Visser once and for all and settle some old scores with Rainer Frosch.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
Division C gets the chance to interrogate an early figure from the case, finally gets some answers to some questions about what's been going on, and gets a lead that might take them to the source of all this.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
The team goes to a small town to investigate a simple ghost sighting in the woods. Of course, the forests are old and may hold more than ghosts.
(Matt's audio has an odd background sound for the first 20 or so minutes but it does improve.)
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
Division C follows a thread from an earlier case to a small village north of the Arctic Circle whose citizens have a bizarre secret.
For comments or questions, email utopologist at protonmail.com
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
A skeleton crew of Matryoshka is sent behind enemy lines to the Aleutian Islands to track down a missing Soviet nuclear submarine.
As usual, music used in this episode can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com.
Matryoshka is sent to rural northern Russia to investigate several sightings of an ominous figure around a group of quiet farming villages.
(Taylor's mic has some weird feedback throughout, but especially near the end. We apologize for the inconvenience.)
Music can be found at redgametable.wordpress.com
GRU Division C is back, sort of! This is a good place to start if you're just now discovering RGT, or you can listen to Matryoshka season 1. This is a prequel, however!
In 1968, Matryoshka is sent to Azerbaijan to investigate a curious issue of people not being able to get in or out of their apartment block.
(Ethan mispronounces Bernhard's name as "Berhard" because he typed it in wrong on his sheet. We apologize for the error.)
Music: https://redgametable.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/2-1-the-one-who-knows-the-silence-in-the-earth/
Because we were missing too many players for our DW campaign, here's a special release of Call of Cthulhu:
During the Siege of Leningrad, a small Red Army squad is sent into enemy territory to recover supplies when they stumble onto a darker secret buried under the cold and wet soil.
Intro: Katyusha (some electronic remix)
Outro: "Nitsokhn Lid" (Victory Song), Yiddish Glory
On their way to the Okin Islands to help free the Viridians, the gang picks up a new friend, makes some business deals, plans to collectivize the farms, and meets a friend of Germand the worm.
Intro: Michael Sandford
Outro: Grant McPhillips
The gang tries to figure out how to get off of Nacre, finds out what's in the tiny chest Joji found, and meet a new friend with geopolitical significance.
Intro: Michael Sandford
Outro: Grant McPhillips
In order to pay the textile workers back for what they did, the gang infiltrates high society and gets deeper and deeper into the tangled web of interests and capital in Nacre.
Intro music by Michael Sandford
Outro music by Grant McPhillips
Based on the success of their previous caper, the party is hired to help some textile workers secure their jobs in a rapidly industrializing field.
Intro music by Michael Sandford
Outro music by Grant McPhillips
Season 2 of Proles of the Game Table brings you a new campaign set in the fantasy world of Kezia.
In this game, the Proles introduce you to the industrializing city of Nacre, where their characters are hired to break into a mining magnate's private estate and steal a prize flower.
Intro music by Michael Sandford
Outro music by Grant McPhillips
It ends here (for a bit)!
Division C makes it back to Moscow, where they meet up with Professor Yuzhlek, who knows a few things about what's going on. It's a race against time to find out what hit the university from the sky before an old foe shows back up.
Outro music: "Respawn", Vieveri
The gang interrogates Brown Jenkin, then finally catches up with the Sergeyovich brothers in Irkutsk, where they're trying to find the entrance to the Veins of the Earth. They learn something new and important about the world and get a little more information on Visser.
Intro music: "matryoshka (theme)" by Colleen Lenin Quine
Outro music: "Hurdy Hurry" by Phill Niblock
Vasily is back, but so is an old nemesis. The gang makes a new friend, learns about the corporation that's somehow connected to all of this, and actually finds one of the items they're looking for for once. Also the doctor makes some really bad decisions.
Intro music: "matryoshka (theme)" by Colleen Lenin Quine
Outro music: "Death Valley" by Rene Aubry
The team makes it to Vladivostok but has to deal with losing one of their members as well as infiltrating an underground bunker that definitely should not lead to where it does. The KGB makes another appearance and our heroes have to deal with bureaucracy thicker than Brezhnev's eyebrows.
Intro music: "matryoshka (theme)" by Colleen Lenin Quine
Outro music: "Manhunter" by HEXSYSTEM
The GRU gang picks up where they left off, escorting Ms. Marsh onboard the Trans-Siberian Railway en route to Vladivostok. On the way, they investigate spooky sounds and encounter mysterious figures who may not be what they seem....
Outro music: "From The Sea / It Looms", Leon Vynehall
ALERT: There is strange audio tearing starting around 15 minutes in, but it only lasts for about 6 or 7 minutes.
Picking up where they left off last time, GRU Division C heads to Tallinn, the capital of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, to investigate an antiques dealer who may know something about what the party found in Siberia. Along the way, they meet up with a local KGB agent (played by our friend Johnny Samyavadi!) and hijinks ensue.
CORRECTION: Most people in Estonia speak Estonian and not Finnish. Estonian is very close to Finnish, but it is a separate language. We regret the error.
Outro music: Prelude in E minor, Gerry Mulligan Sextet
GRU Division C (code-named "Matryoshka") is sent on their first assignment: investigate a nuclear missile silo in the frozen north of Siberia which has gone silent.
HEADS UP: A non-player character commits suicide in this episode around the 51 minute mark. It's quick and not lingered on but if that upsets you, please skip to 00:51:20 or just hit your "advance 30 seconds" button if listening on a podcast app.
Outro music: "All This I Do For Glory" - Colin Stetson