18 Marcia B

Marcia B is a prolific TTRPG Blogger, a scholar of old-school style play, and an attentive Game Designer. Her blog has been a reference of RPG theory and analysis, and her game design work is full of insight and useful tools.

Fantastic Medieval Campaigns might be one of Marcia's most known creations. This games intends on taking the classic rules of the original fantasy game (OD&D) and present it in a way so that we can REALLY read what is written there and take our on conclusions from it. From its own page: "The goal of FMC, rather than to offer a new take on the original role-playing game, is to refresh our memories and problematize our preconceptions of a text (or even of a whole genre) that we have taken for granted. The rules are one-to-one with the original, even where there is confusion or falsehood. There is no benefit of a standard vocabulary. There is no one way of doing anything. There is only unadulterated fantasy. And a clean, modern layout that’s easier to navigate!"

Her work on her blog Traverse Fantasy has been the topic of discussion in many circles, including here in Brazil. Marcia does deep, and analyzes rules, styles of play, texts and social context of the games we love and arrive at surprising and insightful conclusions. She knows what she is talking about, and you can feel it.

In this chat we had the chance to talk about how we relate to RPGs both as our hobby and our focus of study and work (and how that can contrast with each other). How ambiguity of rules can inform gameplay in different ways, how RPGs "evolved" over time, the use of weird rules and how that makes the game unique.

We talk about other games we love, the creators and peers that inspire us, the two kinds of weird she see arounds, her experiences with the supernatural and the weird, one of her favorite place to visit (a UFO museum), and so much more.

We had a great chat, I learned a lot, and I hope you enjoy it too.

So let's get weird with Marcia B!

Check out Marcia's works!

https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/

https://traversefantasy.itch.io/

Thank you for listening!

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You can also support me buy buying one of my games!

Kosmosaurs just got released in print, and it is my new RPG inspired by Saturday morning cartoons about Space Dinosaur Rangers defending the galaxy from evildoers!  

Get your copy right here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/kosmosaurs⁠ ⁠⁠

Stuff mentioned in the Episode:

Original D&D: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/28306/ODD-Dungeons--Dragons-Original-Edition-0e

Trophy RPG: https://trophyrpg.com/

International UFO Museum: https://www.roswellufomuseum.com/

Catfish Plantation (Haunted Restaurand): http://hauntedhouses.com/texas/catfish-plantation/

Paul Was not a Christian (Book): https://www.amazon.com.br/Paul-Was-Not-Christian-Misunderstood/dp/0061349917

The Dropout (TV Series): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10166622/

Barry (TV Series): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5348176/