Dice Exploder

Transcripts are available at diceexploder.com

People talk a lot about how and whether RPGs emulate TV and movies, but this week cohost Meguey Baker (Apocalypse World, Under Hollow Hills) brings in a game that takes that sentiment to a compelling meta level. Fan Mail, from Primetime Adventures by Matt Wilson, is the core of the game's key metaphor: that players are simultaneously writers of a TV show, fans watching that show, and the characters portrayed on screen. We talk about the storygame scene in the early 2000s, how Primetime Adventures has influenced Meg's work, and how different this mechanic can feel in a one shot vs a full campaign.

This game feels like a classic. I wish I'd known about it ten years ago.

Further Reading:

Primetime Adventures by Matt Wilson

The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall

Inspecters by Jared Sorensen

A Thousand and One Nights by Meguey Baker

Ritual in Game Design by Meguey Baker

Meguey & Vincent’s new game Under Hollow Hills

Socials

Meg on Twitter and Bluesky.

The Baker family blog and games.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

What's the deal with Playbooks? That's a question that's way too big for one episode. But Moe Poplar, of the RPG Academy podcast Show & Tell, had a very particular effect of playbooks that he wanted to talk about on the show today: how playbook choice can be a line of communication between players, GM, and designer.

This is one of those episodes that's as much play advice as it is about design. I should do more of those.

Further Reading:

Monster of the Week

Blades in the Dark

Socials

Moe’s website, including his games.

Moe’s podcast via The RPG Academy, Show & Tell

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.
Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, now that the part of season 3 that was funded by Kickstarter is over, I’ve got a treat for you: the backers-only bonus episode with Mikey Hamm, designer of Slugblaster. You didn’t think I was gonna just hold on to an episode this good forever, did you? It’s the show’s namesake mechanic!

Mikey is currently Kickstarting Two-Hand Path, a solo game roll-and-write dungeon crawler. Check it out.

While I thought this episode would be a big of a goof about a goofy mechanic (and it is), it also brought out some of the most thoughtful thoughts on deploying mechanics with precision and purpose that I’ve had on the show yet. Also, we had a blast.

A slug blast.

List of Games with Exploding Dice

Middle Earth Roleplaying Game

Shadowrun

Earthdawn

Luck of Legends

The Burning Wheel

7th Sea

Heart (Deep Apiarist class)

Renegade Racers

Kids on Bikes

Armello

Socials

Back Two-Hand Path and buy Slugblaster now!

Mikey on Bluesky.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week's cohost is James Wallis, cohost of the Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast, a show a lot like this one that's Kickstarting their third season now, and designer of one of the first story games: The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

Today we're breaking format: instead of talking about one game mechanic, James brought in the concept of innovation in game design. What does it look like, is it important, and how can we do more of it?

The show notes for this one are friggin packed.

Further Reading:

Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast and season 3 Kickstarter

The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen and on Wikipedia

Nordic Larp book by Jaakko Stenros and Markus Montola

Nordic Larp wiki

Fairweather Manor, the Downton Abbey larp

The Diana Jones award

Dominion, the deckbuilder board game by Donald X. Vaccarino

Blades in the Dark by John Harper

My blog post Calvinballing a Whole Campaign

Star Crossed by Alex Roberts

Dread by Epidiah Ravachol

Apocalypse World by Meguey and Vincent Baker

The Beast by Naked Female Giant

The Crew by Thomas Sing

Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings

Bluebeard’s Bride by Marissa Kelly, Whitney Beltrán, and Sarah Doom

The Well Played Game by Bernie de Koven

Socials

James Wallis on Bluesky and dice.camp.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

This week I'm bringing you an episode from the new podcast Lyrical Ludology with host Logan Timmins, a show all about lyric games. I'm very excited for it.

There's already at least one more episode of Lyrical Ludology published, so if you like this one, go subscribe and take a listen!

Transcript

It’s the solo games episode! Hopefully the first of many. I’m joined by Seb Pines, designer of The Awards winning game Dwelling and haver of MFA in basically solo games, to talk about prompts in solo games.

This is a broad survey of solo games. We talk about a bunch of games (listed below) that all behave differently. If you’re curious about this side of the hobby, this is the primer for you.

Further Reading:

Dwelling by Seb Pines

Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings

Horse Girl by Babblegum Sam

Artefact by Jack Harrison

Project ECCO by Elliot Davis

Notorious by Jason Price

Void 1680 AM by Ken Lowery

I Eat Mantras For Breakfast by Maria Mison

The Ink That Bleeds and an excerpt on the Indie Game Reading Club

My response to The Ink That Bleeds

Socials

Seb Pines on Bluesky and itch.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This is an intensely visual episode. If you'd like to follow along with the sheets we mention and get some extra commentary from me, you can do so at https://www.diceexploder.com/blog/2024/2/22/dice-exploder-aftershow-character-sheets

I’m fascinated by character sheets, mostly because there are so so so precious few that I think do a good job. I don’t mean this to call anyone out - I think the job of making a good character sheet might genuinely be impossible. They just have so much they have to accomplish.

Today I'm talking to Emanoel Melo, designer of CBR+PNK, about what we like in character sheets and whether there are any we would actually go to bat for.

Further reading

Aftershow blog post featuring all the character sheets we talk about plus extra commentary on diceexploder.com

CBR-PNK

Mothership

Bruno Prosaiko, the artist behind the beautiful ornate sheets we talk about, on Instagram

A collection of Brazilian tabletop games on itch that Emanoel curates

Socials

Emanoel on Twitter and Instagram. His website, Cabinet of Curiosities.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

Alex Roberts, designer of Star Crossed and For the Queen, joins me to talk about pity points from Kagematsu, a mechanic that doesn't actually do anything itself beyond evoke a particular feeling when put in opposition to love points.

This episode is what I always dreamed Dice Exploder could be. We start from a simple game mechanic, but we get into power dynamics at the table in the past and the future, how people treat you when you’re disabled, cultural appropriation, my personal techniques for flirting, details of a new game Alex is working on, and of course “what is the true nature of love?”

Happy day after Valentine’s Day.

Further Reading

Kagematsu is no longer available in print or online

Kagematsu actual play, featuring Alex, on the One Shot podcast

What Dice Do blogpost by Graham Walmsley

The Quiet Year by Avery Alder

Alex’s finished podcast Backstory

Star Crossed by Alex Roberts

For the Queen, second edition coming May 14th from Darrington Press

Socials

Alex’s personal carrd page

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey, and our ad music is Lily Pads by my boi Travis Tessmer.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week I've got designer and illustrator Strega Wolf van den Berg on to talk about money and the Mork Borg third party license. What, if anything, is the difference between making RPGs for fun, to pay rent, and to be paid fairly? And what is the cost (aha) of bringing money into making art?

On the flip side, this is also an episode about community, and how the shape of Mork Borg’s license fostered a community around it that allowed Strega Wolf to find a space in this hobby. Community can give us so many things that money can’t.

Further reading:

The Mork Borg third party license

Lichoma

The Origin Of My Depression by Uboa

Socials

Strega Wolf's website and itch page

Bogfolk, and on itch

Sam on ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠itch⁠⁠.

The Dice Exploder blog is at ⁠⁠diceexploder.com⁠⁠

Our logo was designed by ⁠⁠sporgory⁠⁠, our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey, and our ad music is Lily Pads by my boi Travis Tessmer.

Join the ⁠⁠Dice Exploder Discord⁠⁠ to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week I've got Nova, aka Idle Cartulary, of the excellent Playful Void blog among other places linked below. Nova's one of my favorite writers in the, as she puts it, DIY elf game scene, and I knew that was a world I wanted to cover more this season.

Nova brought on the rumor table from Zedeck Siew's Lorn Song of the Bachelor, an excellent elf game adventure. We got to talk about what makes a good random table at large, our taste in how adventures are written, and how point of view is the thing that often turns serviceable fiction into real primo shit.

Further Reading:

Nova’s kickstarter for The Curse of Mizzling Grove

Dice Exploder on pick lists

Lorn Song of the Bachelor

The Isle, in print and on itch

Socials

Nova’s blog, ⁠Playful Void⁠

Nova’s podcast, ⁠Dungeon Regular⁠

Nova’s games ⁠on itch⁠

Sam on ⁠Bluesky⁠ and ⁠itch⁠.

The Dice Exploder blog is at ⁠diceexploder.com⁠

Our logo was designed by ⁠sporgory⁠, our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey, and our ad music is Lily Pads by my boi Travis Tessmer.

Join the ⁠Dice Exploder Discord⁠ to talk about the show!

Transcript

On the season 3 premiere, I’m joined by John Harper, designer of many games featured on past episodes of Dice Exploder including Blades in the Dark, Lasers & Feelings, and Agon 2e.

John brought in the Psi*Run risk sheet, a fairly complex dice resolution mechanic, known generically as Otherkind Dice. The risk sheet is such an elegant piece of design, packing essentially a whole game onto a single sheet of paper, and being so clear in both how it works and how you might tear it apart for your own ends. If you’re a new designer, or even just looking to get back in touch with the basics, John and I agree that hacking this thing is a great place to look.

It’s good to be back.

Further Reading:

Psi*Run’s risk sheet

Vincent Baker’s original 2005 post on Otherkind Dice

Vincent’s 2022 Otherkind Dice SRD

Psi*Run by Michael Lingner, Christopher Moore⁠, and Meguey Baker

Annalise

Socials

John’s website, onesevendesign.com, and itch page.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey, and our ad music is Lily Pads by my boi Travis Tessmer.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Thursday January 25th Dice Exploder is back with an all new crowdfunded-by-listeners season! The lineup includes John Harper, Alex Roberts, James Wallis, Idle Cartulary, Strega Wolf van den Berg, Emanoel Melo, Seb Pines and MORE - that's right, I'm over-delivering on the Kickstarter as a treat. Check back next week for the season premiere, and visit the blog's new home at diceexploder.com.

Transcript

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Dice Exploder 2023 end of year bonanza! I love me a good ranked list of movies on an end of year movie podcast, but ranked lists are bad and this show’s about RPGs not movies, so you get this instead. It’s me, Aaron King of the RTFM podcast, Lady Tabletop of the Alone at the Table podcast, and Sharang Biswas of winning tons of Ennies this year and being a games academic, and the four of us (plus a half dozen other special guests) are here to tell you about a bunch of cool games shit we played, read, and listened to this year.

Hope you had a great year in games! Come on down and listen to ours.

Our picks:

Aaron’s games

* GREED by Gormengeist

* Undertree Temple of the Elf Gods by Happy Chthonian

* Crush Depth Apparition by Amanda Lee Franck

Audrey’s games

* Void 1680 AM by Ken Lowery

* Wreck This Deck by Black Armada Games (Josh Fox and Becky Annison)

* Extreme Meatpunks Forever by Sinister Beard Games

Sharang’s games

* Fight With Spirit by Story Brewers Roleplaying

* The Silt Verses by Gabriel Robinson and Jason Cordova

* The Broadcast by Jason Morningstar and Lizzie Stark

Sam’s games

* Eating Oranges in the Shower by Hazel Anneke Dixon

* Barkeep on the Borderlands by W. F. Smith

* Exiles by em acosta

Game adjacent things

* Aaron: Grog the Frog by Alba BG

* Audrey: Roleplaying Games Enter the World of Ballet in a Unique New Performance by Linda Codega

* Sharang: The Dungeons & Dragons players of Death Row by Keri Blakinger

* Sam: The Ink That Bleeds by Paul Czege (here’s an excerpt from the Indie Game Reading Club)

Thing we’re proud of

* Aaron: RTFM, Speedrune, and Aaron’s annual list of favorite books

* Audrey: Behold: A Game

* Sharang: Winning 3 Ennies: Judges choice for MOONLIGHT ON ROSEVILLE BEACH and Best Rules/Best Family Game for AVATAR

* Sam: you’re lookin at it

Picks from friends of the show:

* Ray Chou: Decuma

* Thomas Manuel: A.A. Voigt on Youtube, Daydreaming About Dragons podcast by Judd Karlman, the Indie Game Reading Club, and Aaron Marks at Cannibal Halfling.

* Mikey Hamm: Picturepedia and other coffee table reference books

* John Harper: Girl By Moonlight

* Em Acosta: The Zone and Blades in ‘68

* Nova / Idle Cartulary: mindfulness fantasy map drawing (see her Dungeons Regularly vols. 1 and 2)

* Moe Poplar: the Dice Exploder podcast

Further reading:

* Meakpunk manifesto by Heather “Flowers” Robertson

* Sharang’s piece about Brindlewood Bay

* Amanda Lee Franck’s Comradery

* Alba BG’s Instagram

* BALLETCOLLECTIVE presents THE MOMENT IS IMMINENT

* RTFM patreon episode on VOID 1680 AM

* LadyTabletop’s VOID 1680 AM broadcast

Socials

Aaron can be found on, like, just listen to RTFM, linked above.

Audrey on Tumblr, and her podcast Alone at the Table about solo games.

Sharang is on itch and Twitter and Bluesky.

Sam is @sdunnewold on all socials and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

Today I’ve got for you another between-season bonus episode. This time we’re breaking format to talk about i know the end, a module I published earlier this year about going back home after a long time away and all the horrors that entails. Because if you can’t occasionally publish something self-indulgent in your podcast feed, what’s even the point of having one?

My cohost for this is my friend Nico MacDougall, the current organizer of The Awards, who edited i know the end and had almost as much to say about it as I did.

For maximum understanding of this episode, you can pick up a free copy of the module here and follow along (or skim it in advance).

Further reading:

The original i know the end cover art

The “oops all PBTA moves” version of i know the end

Three of my short films

My previous written designer commentaries on Space Train Space Heist and Couriers

John Harper talking with Andrew Gillis about the origins of Blades in the Dark

The official designer commentary podcasts for Spire and Heart

Aaron Lim’s An Altogether Different River, which comes with a designer commentary version

Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes, a photography theory book that we talked about during recording but which I later cut because I remembered most of the details about it incorrectly

What Is Risograph Printing, another topic cut from the final recording because I got basically everything about it wrong while recording (the background texture of the module is a risograph printed texture)

Before Sunrise by Richard Linklater

Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques

Socials:

Nico’s carrd page, which includes links to their socials, editing rates, and The Awards.

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

The Dice Exploder logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

It’s a bonus between-seasons Dice Exploder! Wowie!

As promised back in my episode with Gem Room Games about Mork Borg, today I’m talking about accessibility in game design using Mork Borg’s graphic design as an example. My cohost is Marc Muszynski, a friend and screenwriter with low vision, and we talk in detail about his experience with Mork Borg. Is this game, with all its important and loud art, accessible to people who can’t see? Like with most accessibility questions, It’s Complicated™!

Further reading:

Mork Borg

Accessibility in Gaming Resource Guide by Jennifer Kretchmer

TTRPG Accessibility Drive 2023 game jam on itch

Contrast checking tool for visual design.

Color checking tool for colorblindness.

Sylexiad, my favorite Dyslexia-friendly font:

Fate Accessibility Toolkit by Evil Hat

Two articles about “sanity” mechanics in RPGs (don’t put “sanity” mechanics in your games)

Socials:

Marc on imdb (lmao)

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

On this episode I’m joined by Nychelle Schneider, also known as Mistletoe Kiss, a moderator from the Blades in the Dark discord and contributor to The Wildsea, the upcoming Dagger Isles supplement for Blades, and Underground Maps & Passkeys among others.

Nychelle brought on the idea of customizing existing games, homebrewing mechanics for your table (or even publication). This is... a big conversation, chock full of cool ideas that I hope people take and run with. There are so many games out there, and I think there’s so much to be gained by making stuff that can plug into and enhance other people’s art.

Nychelle also has so many interesting trains of thought about in this episode, many of which I didn’t follow up on as much as I wish I had. So I encourage you to listen to what she says, and then take those ideas an run with them. I hope that every week, but especially with this one.

Further reading:

A post-show blogpost about Sam’s joke Blades playbook The Boogeyman

Blades in the Dark

Nychelle’s Blades playbook The Surge

Vincent Baker’s blogpost Apocalypse World Custom Advancement

Tim Denee’s Dogs in the Bark

Sam’s Blades crewsheet Spirit Chasers

Sam’s Blades downtime hack Doskvol Breathes

Several zines by Aaron King of PBTA moves that exist outside of games: Reading the Apocalypse, PbtA23 January Digest, and PbtA23 February Digest

Socials:

Nychelle’s website, Twitter, and itch.

The Blades in the Dark Discord

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

Thomas Manuel of the Indie RPG Newsletter and the Yes Indie’d podcast joins me to talk about Secondary Missions, a mechanic from Band of Blades by Off Guard Games.

In Band of Blades, a grim military fantasy forged in the dark game, you and your party go off and do missions. Meanwhile, there’s a whole other squad out there doing a whole other mission! What’s up with them? This mechanic tells us. It’s such a change in the mouthfeel of Band of Blades compare to other forged in the dark games.

We get into how it supports the genre and themes of the game, all the tough choices it puts in front of players, and how mechanics like this one that couldn’t exist in any other game are often our favorites.

It’s a classic Dice Exploder deep dive this week. Enjoy.

Further reading:

* Blades in the Dark

* Malazan Book of the Fallen

* Band of Brothers

* Darkest Dungeon

* The Watch

* Dream Askew // Dream Apart

Socials:

Thomas on itch and Twitter.

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week I’m joined by Tasha Robinson, film editor at Polygon, Games on Demand aficionado, Golden Cobra honorable mentionee, and author of this excellent piece about today’s game and mechanic: Fall of Magic and the five and a half foot long handprinted scroll at its heart.

There’s a lot to say about such a unique physical object, and also a lot to cover about maps in RPGs at large. We get into all of it. Consider this the third part of the travel series this season opened with.

Pack your bags. It’s a heck of a journey.

Further reading:

* Fall of Magic by Ross Cowman

* Tasha’s article about Fall of Magic and City of Winter

* Tasha’s article about larps about AI

* Tasha’s archive on Polygon

* Tasha’s Golden Cobra honorably mentioned larp The Regency Committee on Decorum and Punchbowl Poop Prevention

* Rusalka by Nick Wedig

* Wild Beyond the Witch Light

* Doskvol Street Maps by Tim Denee

* Blades in ‘68 on Twitter

* Beak Feather and Bone, another mapmaking game from Possible Worlds Games

* Dread by Epidiah Ravachol

Socials:

Tasha on Bluesky and Twitter.

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey via Breaking Copyright.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

In the year of our lord two thousand and twenty, many things occurred. But one of those things was the cultural event known as Blaseball.

Blaseball was, more or less, a simulated baseball league that ran one game an hour, one season a week, that players could bet on and then use their winnings to vote for global rules changes. It got... weirder from there. And bigger. And memeier. It became nothing less than a lifestyle.

And then, this past summer of 2023, it ended.

What made it such a phenomenon? What made its fans so passionate? Was Blaseball even a game? And what will we do with ourselves now that it’s gone?

This week Sam is joined by Chris Greenbriar, former moderator of the team discord for the Core Mechanics (that’s one of the teams from Blaseball) to reminisce and celebrate Blaseball’s legacy and everything that made it beautiful.

Further reading:

Blaseball’s website

The Blaseball fan wiki

The Seattle Garages bandcamp and the Fourth Strike Records website.

The Great Soul Train Robbery in both original two page and zine length.

Empires of EVE: the EVE Online history book series

17776, which we didn’t mention but which you should give a glance

Socials:

Join the Dice Exploder Discord if you need to talk with Chris directly.

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Transcript

This week Sam is joined by Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games, known for Fiasco, Night Witches, and many other excellent games.

Jason brought on transparency, a concept originating in the Nordic larp community, which describes the separation of player knowledge from character knowledge (similar to dramatic irony. We go through a whole library of example games in this one as we talk through genre, safety tools, playing to lose, and the deployment of secrets. Jason’s enthusiasm for this topic is infectious - there’s so much to think about here! If you’re listening and a designer, I’m pumped to hear what shenanigans you find to get up to with transparency in your own games.

Further reading:

The Mixing Desk of LARP

The Golden Cobra Challenge, live now!

The Fool’s Journey

Fiasco second edition

Welcome Guests

Paranoia

Bluebeard’s Bride

Montsegur 1244

Star Crossed

Socials:

Jason on Bluesky and dice.camp.

Bully Pulpit Games and their Patreon.

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

Double the cohosts, double the mechanics, double the Kickstarters to back! This week, Sam talks with Kali Lawrie and Dan Phipps of Gem Room Games about Mork Borg by Pelle Nilsson and Johan Nohr: its graphic design and the Calendar of Nechrubel.

Mork Borg is famous for the absolute assault on the eyes [complimentary] committed by its graphic design. In this season of the podcast about how mechanics can be more than just rules, I really wanted to cover it. And who better to do that with me than Gem Room Games, authors of Dukk Borg, the mashup of Mork Borg and DuckTales? We talk about the look, comedy, and sheer commitment of Mork Borg in this double-stuffed episode.

Dukk Borg by Gem Room Games is on Kickstarter right now.

Further reading:

Mork Borg: https://morkborg.com/

Sam’s other favorite Gem Room Games game Subway Runners: https://gemroomgames.itch.io/subwayrunners

Socials:

Kali on Bluesky and Twitter.

Dan on Bluesky and Twitter.

Gem Room Games on Bluesky, Twitter, and itch.

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey via Breaking Copyright.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Tan Shao Han about stress from Brinkwood by Erik Bernhardt, a character resource originally from Blades in the Dark by John Harper.

This is one of those episodes where to talk about the mechanic in question, we kind of have to talk about the whole-ass game around it because so much of Brinkwood is tied up in stress. And in this case, we really had to talk about two whole-ass games, because so much of what makes Brinkwood stress interesting is how a few small tweaks from Blades in the Dark ripple out through the design and lead to big changes in play.

Get ready for the full firehose of mechanics: this is an episode jam-packed with delicious, crunchy examples.

Further reading:

Brinkwood by Erik Bernhardt: https://brinkwood.net/

Blades in the Dark by John Harper: https://bladesinthedark.com/

The Blades in the Dark discord: https://discord.gg/uXwCKq3

Thoughts on Forging in the Dark by Small Cool Games: https://smallcoolgames.itch.io/thoughts-on-forging-in-the-dark

An Amateur’s Guide to Hacking Blades in the Dark by past cohost Michael Elliott: https://notwriting.itch.io/an-amateurs-guide-to-hacking-blades-in-the-dark

Socials:

Shao on Bluesky, Twitter, and his personal website.

Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey via Breaking Copyright.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with his middle school buddy David Block about We Are But Worms: A One Word RPG, other lyric games, and experimental art at large.

Some topics discussed include:

* Art

* Games

* Poetry

* Lists

The best place to find David is on the Dice Exploder Discord.

But No More: A One Letter Supplement for We Are But Worms: A One Word RPG

You can find Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch @sdunnewold.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with wendi yu about the Fate Point economy, a meta currency system from Fate by Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue and published by Evil Hat. Some topics discussed include:

* Getting into storygames

* “Generic” RPGs

* When crunch kills the vibe

* The Hero’s Journey

* The (lack of) difference between rules and flavor

* Writing good aspects: it’s hard!

* wendi’s game here, there, be monsters!

You can find wendi on Twitter @wen_di_yu, and you can buy here, there, be monsters! digitally on itch or physically from SoulMuppet.

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io, and by subscribing to the Dice Exploder newsletter.

You can find Fate at Evil Hat.

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Morgan Nuncio about cramped quarters, a move from Uncharted Worlds. Some topics discussed include:

* Travel in story games

* Making this move at the beginning, middle, or end of a scene

* Moves as training wheels

* Stonetop’s “keep company”

* Wanderhome

* For the Queen

You can find Mo on Twitter @SirenaBesos.

You can find Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch @sdunnewold.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Clayton Notestine about hexagons and hex maps. Some topics discussed include:

* The birth of RPGs out of wargaming

* Avalon Hill’s hex map

* The vibes of different numbers

* Why hexes and not squares?

* The hex’s modularity

* How RPGs create stories in the fiction and at the table

* Leaving hexes empty

* Travel in RPGs

* Hex flowers

Clayton can be found @ClayNotestine on Twitter, @ExplorersDesign on Bluesky and dice.camp, at explorers.itch.io, and of course at explorersdesign.com. That’s also where you can get his sick layout templates and join the explorers design discord. I’ll see you in there.

You can find Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch @sdunnewold.

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Coming August 17th, 2023: DICE EXPLODER SEASON 2.

(Here’s a transcript of this trailer.)

That’s right, we are back next week with an all new season. It's 12 new episodes, 13 new co-hosts diving face first with me into the world of tabletop RPG design one mechanic at a time.

This is gonna be a season that's a lot about flavor and vibes and how those things themselves are fundamentally mechanics in these games. We've also got a trio of episodes about different ways to depict travel, and of course a few deep dives into crunchy grindy bits of games.

Our longest episode yet. Our shortest episode yet. Splorts!

Tell your siblings and your niblings! Join our Discord if you can’t wait that long.

See you soon.

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Ash Kreider about character creation picklists, a common feature of most (all?) PBTA games, as well as many others. Some topics discussed include:

* Character creation speed runs

* Gender lists

* Are pick lists mechanics?

* How Wanderhome doubles the length of its pick lists with This One Cool Trick

* Are pick lists poetry?

Games mentioned

* Apocalypse World

* The Watch

* Blades in the Dark

* Dream Askew // Dream Apart

* Maid RPG

* Wanderhome

* Space Train Space Heist

* Under Hollow Hills

You can find Ash at peachpantspress on itch and @wundergeek on Twitter. Their website is peachpantspress.com, or here’s direct links to There Is Only One Bed and Queer Sir.

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Ryan Khan about Whispers, a player resource from The Wildsea by Felix Isaacs, but really about a whole bunch of mechanics from The Wildsea. Some topics discussed include:

* Setting as game design, and open ended lore

* Open ended prompts

* Twists vs Devil’s Bargains

* Player agency

* Long skill lists: pros and cons

Games mentioned:

* The Wildsea

* Apocalypse World

* Blades in the Dark

* Heart: The City Beneath

* Spire

You can find Ryan Khan on Twitter @theOneTrueK and on itch.io at the-one-true-ryan-khan.itch.io

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io, and by subscribing to the Dice Exploder newsletter.

You can find The Wildsea at thewildsea.co.uk

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Greg Soper AKA sporgory about Divine Favor, one part of the dice pool mechanic from Agon second edition by Sean Nittner and John Harper. Some topics discussed include:

- Having a family drama stapled to your character sheet

- Greek Gods: bad parents

- What makes hacking Divine Favor hard

- Endeavor

- Odyssey Aquatica

- All Quiet No Peace

- Starbones

- The setting elements mechanic from Dream Askew // Dream Apart

- ~HACKING LIVE ON AIR!!!~

You can find Greg on Twitter and itch.io at sporgory

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory (!!), and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week on the Dice Exploder podcast, Sam talks with Ema Acosta about Change The World, a move from The Watch by Ash Kreider.

Some topics discussed include:

* The Watch: it’s depressing!

* The Watch and its gender dynamics

* A lot of people will never see this bit of design and that’s okay

* Balancing misery with hope and beauty

* “Just tell the players to do the thing”

* Inducing emotions from technical language

* “Rail shooter RPGs”

* Crying

Games mentioned:

* The Watch

* Night Witches

* Wanderhome

* Stewpot (currently unavailable)

* Our Traveling Home

* Blades in the Dark

* World Ending Game

You can find Ema’s games at ema-acosta.itch.io

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Victor Lane about the Theorize move, originally from an idea by Oli Jeffrey and popularized in Brindlewood Bay by Jason Cordova. Some topics discussed include:

* The history of solving mysteries in RPGs

* The Three Clue Rule

* Jason Cordova’s blogpost discussing Oli Jeffrey’s original Theorize move

* Writing mystery stories VS reading or watching mystery stories VS playing a mystery RPG

* Bullshit

* Quantum villains

* Victor’s advice on running Brindlewood Bay (he’s got great tips)

* Structured surprise vs emergent surprise

* Mechanical clues, as distinct from diegetic clues

* The butler did it

* Complexity (the mechanic)

Games mentioned:

* Brindlewood Bay

* GUMSHOE

* Extreme Meatpunks Forever

* Apocalypse Keys

* The Between

* Fedora Noir

* Sleepaway

* Blades in the Dark

* Avatar Legends

* Thirsty Sword Lesbians

Movies and TV mentioned: Knives Out, Glass Onion, Murder She Wrote, Fedora Noir, Speed, Father Brown, Columbo, Poker Face, Agatha Christie

You can find Victor on TikTok and itch.io at ThisIsVictor. His website is thisisvictor.com.

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Pam Punzalan about Devil’s Bargains, one part of the dice pool mechanic from John Harper's game Blades in the Dark. Some topics discussed include:

* Rulebooks as guidelines and play philosophy more than proper rules

* DBs as a safety tool

* Generic DBs

* Do DBs slow down the game? Is that good or bad?

* Retconning in RPGs (it's good)

* Putting DBs into any old game

* Our favorite DBs

Games mentioned:

* Blades in the Dark

* Navathem's End

* The Exiles

* Belonging Outside Belonging games such as Dream Askew // Dream Apart

You can find Pam on Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io at TheDoveTailor. You can find their newsletter at thedovetailor.substack.com. Her website is thedovetailor.carrd.co.

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io

You can find Blades in the Dark at bladesinthedark.com.

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week, Sam talks with Michael Elliott about Composure, a player resource mechanic from Ash McAllen’s game Antiquarian Adventures.

Michael is currently Kickstarting his game Nasty Brutish and Long, a simple RPG about lives complicated by revolution.

Some topics discussed today:

* Failure and conflict, why they're great, and mechanics that encourage players to embrace them

* Genre and mechanics that support it

* Simplifying mechanics when hacking, with Blades in the Dark as an example

* Passing the spotlight at the table

Games mentioned:

* Antiquarian Adventures

* Blades in the Dark

* Fiasco

Sam’s blog post whether conflict is necessary in RPGs

James Mendez Hodes’ website and blog

Pam Punzalan’s blog post “The Unbearable Otherness of a Global South Creator”

Asians Represent podcast on Twitter

Michael’s on Twitter, dice.camp, itch.io, and other places @NotWriting 

Sam is @sdunnewold on Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

This week’s cohost is Ray Chou, who brings Rolling The Dice from John Harper’s iconic one page RPG Lasers & Feelings.

Topics discussed include:

* Minimalism

* Underlining genre through mechanics

* Episodic vs serialized stories

* When you should roll dice

* Randomness and fate in real life

* Beer & pretzels gaming

Games mentioned:

* Lasers and Feelings

* Cows and Boys

* Honey Heist

* 316 Carnage Amongst the Stars

* Heart: The City Beneath

* Couriers

Sam’s designer commentary on his own Lasers & Feelings hack, Couriers, can be found here.

You can find Ray's publishing company at myth.works.

You can find Sam @sdunnewold on Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.io.

The Dice Exploder logo is by sporgory, and the theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Coming June 2023: DICE EXPLODER, a new podcast where each week we break down a tabletop RPG mechanic as deep as we possibly can, with Sam Dunnewold and a rotating co-host.

Produced by the Fiction First Network.