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
Your passive player problem is a psychology problem. The Bystander Effect explains exactly why players disengage. New RPG PHD video: the research, the design audit, and the fix.
https://youtu.be/rhMi6Ob52VI
13 hours ago | [YT] | 5
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RPG PHD
In this week's video we're borrowing a technique straight from professional script analysis, theatrical beat mapping, and pointing it directly at your adventure prep. https://youtu.be/is-HyQwrZVw
1 week ago | [YT] | 5
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RPG PHD
FBI hostage negotiation tactics applied to tabletop RPG social encounters. Six techniques, one framework, new video up. https://youtu.be/D5Bub6D9MdM
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 5
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RPG PHD
In this video we take theories of design, cognitive psychology, and visual rhetoric and apply them directly to character sheet design.
https://youtu.be/lACXToo83dU
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 5
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RPG PHD
In this week's lecture, we're pulling from psychology, theatrical theory, and music cognition to build a complete framework for dramatic tension curves and rhythmic pacing. The Heartbeat Model. The 3-Peak Structure. The Valley Depth Principle. A full GM Field Guide you can use at your prep table tonight.
https://youtu.be/WQNJz3GO6lQ
4 weeks ago | [YT] | 3
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RPG PHD
My newest RPG PHD video explores operant conditioning as a lens for thinking about player engagement, reward architecture, feedback loops, and the behavioral psychology behind what keeps a table locked in. I look at how reinforcement schedules shape the way players experience your game, why failure states quietly kill engagement, how micro-rewards work across both mechanical and narrative channels, and how all of that can be deliberately designed into your sessions and your systems.
If you've ever watched a great session go flat for no obvious reason, wondered why some rolls feel electric and others feel like nothing, or wanted to understand the actual psychology behind what makes players lean in, this one's for you.
https://youtu.be/KJVIUJObJTw
1 month ago | [YT] | 4
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RPG PHD
Today we’re officially launching the RPG PHD Discord.
A lot of you have been asking for a community space, so here it is. This is a place to talk tabletop RPGs, game mastering, design, theory, storytelling, and all the other ideas we explore on the channel.
I’m excited to see what kind of conversations, questions, and community this grows into. Hope to see you there.
discord.gg/STFdne3PbU
1 month ago | [YT] | 16
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RPG PHD
https://youtu.be/UJ88XTulFic
What makes players obey authority in a tabletop RPG… and what makes them resist it?
My newest RPG PHD video explores the Milgram experiments as a lens for thinking about authority, obedience, conformity, social pressure, and player agency in TTRPGs. I look at how GMs frame authority, how groups create momentum, why some players push back hard against being directed, and how all of that can be used to create stronger dramatic play.
If you’ve ever wondered why players follow the king’s order, distrust the quest giver, or suddenly rebel against the whole system, this one’s for you.
1 month ago | [YT] | 3
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RPG PHD
https://youtu.be/vKPipUauewo
New video is up on Schema Theory and TTRPGs. I’m digging into how players interpret clues, build expectations, misread situations, and learn how to read a campaign world over time and what GMs can do with that at the table.
1 month ago | [YT] | 6
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RPG PHD
https://youtu.be/IrsdWItTFnE
New video is up! In Waiting Kills Momentum, I explore how queuing theory can help us think about initiative, spotlight, pacing, downtime, and player engagement in tabletop RPGs. If you’ve ever wondered why some sessions feel sharp and energetic while others drag, this one is for you. Let me know in the comments where you’ve seen this show up at your table.
1 month ago | [YT] | 6
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