What started as one gamer wanting to talk about his love of a game grew into a podcast network. Ryan founded what would become the Know Direction Podcast network with Jason "Jay" Dubsky, his friend and fellow 3.5 enthusiast. They and their game group moved on to Pathfinder, and the Know Direction podcast network was born.
Now married and a father, Ryan continues to serve the network as the director of logistics and co-host of Upshift podcast, dedicated to the Essence20 RPG system he writes for and helped design.
You can find out more about Ryan and the history of the network in this episode of Presenting: http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/2021/01/presenting-ryan-costello/
Famously*, I homebrew the majority of my adventures, but I don’t write them down. Ideas revolve around my brain like so many aeon stones, and I draw from them as need. This works smoothly in person, as I feed off the...
Every week, Now You Know recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, previews the Know Direction content of the week to come, and shares the thoughts on the state of the network from the director of operations,...
Hey, remember how last episode, Glanville receives a painting from an admirer? And how everyone was suspicious it was some kind of murder painting? It ends up, yep! Murder painting. Listen Now! (mp3) Young and Adventurous is a production of...
Every week, Now You Know recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, previews the Know Direction content of the week to come, and shares the thoughts on the state of the network from the director of operations,...
Several related but varied Hasbro properties run on the Essence20 Roleplaying System. Ryan and Jason talk about taking these established and beloved settings and adapting them into roleplaying games. Listen Now! (mp3) Featuring Letter From Snake Eyes 4, generously provided...
Yesterday’s Game Design Unboxed inspired today’s Behind The Screens. In it, James Hewitt and Sophie Williams discussed the game they co-designed, Mantic Games’ Hellboy: The Board Game. Even though it’s not a roleplaying game, they described the mechanics that...
This isn’t your slightly younger self’s Upshift! Learn all about our new co-host (Renegade Game Studios’ new developer Jason Keeley), new format, and newfound willingness to number our episodes in the first episode of the new Upshift. Listen Now!...
As our adventurous heroes settle into a temporary new base of operations, Glanville receives a painting from an admirer. BTW, if you want to send to show how you feel to someone you admire, do not send them the...
Every week, Now You Know recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, previews the Know Direction content of the week to come, and shares the thoughts on the state of the network from the director of operations,...
GMs use “it’s what my character would do” as shorthand for selfish, chaotic players disrupting the game and blaming their characters. Well, in what is probably my most controversial tabletop gaming opinion, I think “it’s what my character would...