This channel aspires to help new and seasoned players, GMs/DMs and designers advance in their craft by creating more compelling narratives, constructing richer and more immersive game-worlds, improving their improvisational skills, and striving to be exceptional in the tabletop RPG arena. Greetings and welcome to RPG PHD! With over 35 years of experience playing role-playing games, I am thrilled to witness how this hobby has flourished, transformed, and gained greater acceptance than ever before. Alongside my passion for RPGs, I have pursued a professional career as a theater professor, facilitator, actor, writer, director, and storyteller, teaching people of all ages how to act, write, direct, play RPGs, and craft captivating narratives.
My goal is to empower new players by equipping them with the necessary tools and skills to enhance their confidence and enjoyment of the game. Thank you for joining me, and I hope you find value in what RPG PHD has to offer! - Dr. Ben
RPG PHD
Status transactions, why the railroad is technically a block, spontaneity over cleverness, and the reincorporation trick that makes an improvised session feel planned from session one. New video: Johnstone's Five Principles. https://youtu.be/5QUmcViedk4
5 days ago | [YT] | 2
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RPG PHD
https://youtu.be/c5JeVOw7r3E
New RPG PHD video digs into the psychology of character loss: why the grief is real, why a beloved character's brain signature can start to resemble a real friend's, what actors already know about exiting a role cleanly, and a full step-by-step process for handling a character's death or retirement at the table.
1 week ago | [YT] | 6
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RPG PHD
New script's up: why a quiet player at your table might be checked out, or might be the most engaged person in the room, and how those two states can look exactly the same from the GM's seat. Covers learned helplessness, locus of control, evaluation apprehension, processing lag in neurodivergent players, and diffusion of responsibility, with a step-by-step diagnostic guide. Drop your own diagnosis in the comments once you've watched. https://youtu.be/oG5CeP-yKNI
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 7
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RPG PHD
Your players didn't miss the clue because they weren't paying attention. They missed it because the room's noise floor buried it. New episode on Signal Detection Theory, from WWII radar rooms to your table. https://youtu.be/XRgPWjyV1z4
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 4
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RPG PHD
Part two is live. Characterization, Observation, and Rhythm, the final three of Boleslavski's six acting lessons applied to players, GMs, and designers. Plus a full step-by-step guide and an honest look at where the framework breaks down.
1 month ago | [YT] | 7
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RPG PHD
https://youtu.be/I7fGMU6n5iQ
Many table problems get blamed on player engagement or GM skill. But there's a 90-year-old acting manual that diagnoses almost all of them by name. Part one of a two-part series is live. Concentration, Memory of Emotion, and Dramatic Action applied to players, GMs, and designers.
1 month ago | [YT] | 13
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RPG PHD
Ever drop a villain's voice mid-scene to check your phone, then pick it right back up like nothing happened? Sociologist Erving Goffman spent his career studying that exact gap. This week on RPG PHD, we're breaking down front stage, back stage, and impression management, and applying it directly to your GM screen, your NPCs, and the split between your character self and your actual self at the table.
https://youtu.be/xVbBKDu7Arc
1 month ago | [YT] | 9
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RPG PHD
Why does one failed roll ruin someone's session while another player shrugs it off?
It's not resilience. It's psychology.
Three frameworks explain what's actually happening when failure lands at your table: one for how much it hurts, one for where the blame goes, and one for why you're still thinking about it a week later.
https://youtu.be/VkJ_TIU0js8
1 month ago | [YT] | 19
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RPG PHD
Your character feels hollow. The campaign is good. The GM is doing everything right. So what's wrong? Identity psychology has an answer. Three frameworks, one diagnosis: you might be playing the wrong character for who you actually are.
https://youtu.be/rsuSfl-clyo
1 month ago | [YT] | 20
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RPG PHD
The monster isn't what frightens them. The corridor is. Five fields of research explain why the architecture gets to your players before any threat does. New video up now.https://youtu.be/PKvKQQuNcAI
2 months ago | [YT] | 11
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