Dice Exploder

Customizing Games for Your Table with Nychelle Schneider

Oct 19, 2023

Guest Nychelle Schneider, moderator from the Blades in the Dark discord, talks about customizing games and homebrewing mechanics. They discuss fluidity in game design, creating custom content, collaborating with others, and unique game experiences. They also delve into the game Broken Spire and the importance of new settings and scenarios in RPGs.

38:56

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Episode guests

Nychelle Schneider

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Creating custom content for tabletop role-playing games enhances the overall experience and allows players to bring their own creativity.

Hacking games and modifying rules to create unique experiences fosters a sense of community and brings fresh perspectives to the gaming table.

Deep dives

The Joy of Making Custom Content

In this podcast episode, the host and guest discuss the excitement and fulfillment of creating custom content for tabletop role-playing games. They emphasize the idea that game design is not limited to creating new games from scratch, but also involves the opportunity to contribute to and enhance existing games. They highlight the importance of exploring different mechanics, modifying rules, and adding flexibility to gameplay. Examples are given, such as a custom playbook for Blades in the Dark that introduces a unique ability and a downtime hack that alters the way downtime actions are performed. The podcast advocates for embracing the freedom to customize games, encouraging players to bring their own creativity and ideas to enhance the overall experience.

Introduction

2min

Exploring Game Design and Fluidity in Mechanics

2min

Creating Custom Content and Collaborating with Others in Game Design

11min

Customizing Games for Unique Experiences

12min

Discussing Broken Spire Game

3min

The Importance of New Settings and Scenarios

9min

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