We are proud to announce that The Rat Hole is the home of Rattenfanger Radio's library of modern audio drama productions. Download these classic productions from DriveThruFiction as Pay-What-You-Want content.| therathole.ca
I’m a big fan of tiki culture. The modern tiki culture and aesthetic is, of course, evolved from the cultures and art of the South Pacific. At the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle of said South Pacific lays one of the most remote inhabited islands on the planet. An island immediately recognizable by the nearly 1000 moai statues on the island. Easter Island. Although not as ostentatious as most tiki art, the moai are nevertheless ubiquitous. I’m also a huge fan of abstract...| therathole.ca
Wolves and Werewolves are popular in media, popular culture, and gaming. The problem is, they are almost always in a villainous role. Whether you are playing a fantasy RPG, a horror game, or even a survival game, a distant howl is rarely a good thing. Even in games that have Shapeshifter player characters, like White Wolf, the expectation is that there will be hunting, combat, and blood. But people who have visited a wild animal sanctuary, and those who have owned a Husky or Malamute, can tel...| therathole.ca
When a game has a lot of rules, very detailed character creation, and a generous helping of math, it is usually referred to as being “crunchy”. If that is true, then the horror RPG Dread is an adventure trope quicksand pit disguised as a bowl of pudding. When I arrived at RPG-A-THON on Saturday afternoon, I stopped at the Extra Life table. I had just missed their morning block of play-anything drop-in sessions, but I was intrigued by what they were setting up. The table had “character s...| therathole.ca
It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned this, but I’m not a great GM. It never has been my passion and recent real world challenges have made it nearly impossible for me. As a result, I try to avoid a lot of the more open world games, in favour of prewritten adventures that might be derogatorily referred to as railroad adventures. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love throwing a curveball at players. Enter Jason Anachy’s recent Ridiculous Loot Deck.| therathole.ca
Fun fact: TheRatHole.ca officially opened 7 years ago on American Thanksgiving. (or as we call it in Canada: Thursday.) The first official review was Secret Santa by Osprey Games. So when I had the opportunity to review another Secret Santa (this time from Matagot) I was definitely interested to see how this would go. I wasn’t expecting the same game. Nor was I going to quibble over another game with the same name. The term “Secret Santa” is fairly common, and there are only so many bla...| therathole.ca
One of the absolute joys of doing these interviews is the chance to speak with folks within the TTRPG space who are simply impressive. Eli Hauschel is so much so, I’m skipping my usual introduction so we can get right to it. Enjoy!| therathole.ca
