🤘

Love this podcast so right from the beginning. I can only imagine the whacky shenanigans that Ivan and Steve get up to while recording these sessions — they are very lively and entertaining, to say the least. In fact, it reminds me of a character I once developed for a short Warhammer campaign where I built out his family tree on both sides ten generations out. His hook would have been to have a new story about one of his relatives as an anecdote for that days adventures. He was a hobbit or a halfling — I forget his race in that game — and he would have fit in nicely with this crew. My plan was to put his entire backstory in here as the review because if you’re not creating a crazy backstory for all of your characters, what are you even doing? In any event, each episode is a delight to listen to and really makes you think from both sides of the table — both as a PC and a GM — and it always gets my mind wandering back to campaigns of old and wondering how could we have done that better? And did I lean in as much as I could have? Did I uphold my end of the social contract and as a GM did I invite inclusivity among all my players and provide a fun and positive environment to let loose? Also whatever happened to my sister that was kidnapped by a Hoblin Goblin? So many questions — and if you continue to listen to this podcast, I assure you, you will have many — many more. But in a good way! MRAT!

Do you want a well-edited, podcast with good audio where two friends fully explore TTRPG topics, touch on a little bit of news and keep it all super entertaining? Passive Aggressive podcast is for you. I have listened to hundreds of casts in the TTRPG space and this is one of the gems I have stuck around for. I listen every week.

Ivan and Steve have the kind of dynamic that seems to come from years of playing together and talking tabletop. It’s great to be brought into those talks and have them as 45 minute friends. They get deep in the weeds in the best way on their topics without being boring in any way. A rock solid podcast.

Much like those I envy for fitting a dresser-worth of clothes in a single suitcase, these two delicately traverse acres of information each episode. They aren’t shy towards the complicated topics such as how to navigate current events or a socio-political opinion at your table. They admit they have their dusty mountains of games on the shelf and they don’t hold back on confronting how the dust got there in the first place. Their raw, unconstrained passion is a contagion that convinces you that the tabletop can never die so long as you’re willing to throw in a pinch of grit, inclusiveness, and patience. This is a kind but honest place to learn about gaming.

I’ve been burned by TTRPG podcasts in the past: too much ego, bickering over what is the best system, preaching the wrong way to play. P(A)P has none of these problems, offering up informative discussion in an entertaining format every week. Highly recommended.