Dice Exploder

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comWhen you’re playing roleplay-heavy D&D, what does a scene look like? Since the game doesn’t give you much in the way of tools for doing so, are you framing scenes intentionally or just kind of letting them happen? And if the latter, is that serving you well?You very well might be, but I’ve become obsessed lately with how we frame scenes in roleplaying games, and today I want to talk about a mechanic that does so very firmly: spotlight scenes, a procedure in which each player in the game gets a turn to say what they want the next scene to be.To do that, I’m joined by Mo Turkington, designer of many great structured freeform larps including the well-lauded Rosenstrasse and her latest release Lumberjills. We get into the history of spotlight scenes, the pros and cons of including rules for framing and ending scenes in your game, and how even a mechanic like this one that feels so structural and procedural, when used int he right context, can have a beautiful, thematically resonant message in it about agency and self-actualization.Ad LinksSong of the Scryptwyrm by Almost Bedtime TheaterFurther ReadingLumberjills by Moyra TurkingtonI Say A Little Prayer by Tor Kjetil EdlandJust a Little Lovin’ by Tor Kjetil Edland and Hanne GrasmoRosenstrasse by Moyra Turkington and Jessica HammerMontsegur 1244 by Frederik J. JensenRed Carnations on a Black Grave by Catherine Ramen and Juan OchoaSocialsMoyra’s games on itchSam on Bluesky and itchThe Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!Dice Exploder on Patreon

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comShadows are a metatechnique in larp where you have players in the role of something other than a traditional larp or rpg player character. Maybe they’re stagehands turning out the lights because there’s ghosts in this house. Maybe they’re the characters’ worst fears who wander around and whisper into players’ ears to egg them on into terrible actions and choices. They’re special effects, or ghosts, or whatever else you want them to be. Let's talk about them!Ad Links⁠⁠Extra Ordinary on Kickstarter now!⁠⁠SocialsElin on BlueskySam on Bluesky and itchThe Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!Dice Exploder on Patreon

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comThere's this period of time between when we've all agreed we're going to play a game now and when we start "actually playing." We've got to learn the rules, learn the setting, maybe go over safety or characters. Maybe we order the pizza in here, too.This part of a game is just as much something that can be intentionally designed as gameplay itself, but I don't see much of that in ttrpgs. Meanwhile in larp, workshops to set up a game are standard practice. What do they look like, and what can we learn from them?Ad LinksExtra Ordinary launches on Kickstarter March 10th!Further ReadingThe Art of Gathering by Priya ParkerBleed on the Nordic Larp wikiPlaying to Lift, Not Just to Lose by Susanne VejdemoThe Battle of Primrose Park: Playing for Emancipatory Bleed in Fortune & Felicity by Jonaya KemperSpace Train Space Heist by Sam DunnewoldVeins of Corruption, Marc's itchfunding mega-zungeonSocialsMarc on Bluesky and itch and actual plays on youtubeSam on Bluesky and itchThe Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the showSupport ⁠Dice Exploder on Patreon⁠!

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comThe show is on Patreon! There's not going to be a lot behind the paywall, but there is right now a pilot episode for a new podcast that's part play report, part games criticism, and part personal memoir. This pilot is about the excellent game Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, and you can listen to it now on the brand new Dice Exploder patreon.https://www.patreon.com/DiceExploder

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIn a lot of tabletop rpgs, to do something in the fictional world, we engage with abstraction: to pick someone’s pocket, we describe picking their pocket, or we roll a die to see how well we pick it. But in larp, sometimes the action is the action. I pick your pocket... by picking your pocket.This embodiment of play, where my real life actions equal my fictional character's actions, might be what many people understand as the core difference between larp and tabletop games. Today, Kate Hill and I get into the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful of embodied play.Further ReadingPlaying to Lift, Not Just to Lose by Susanne VejdemoBluebeard’s BrideNew World MagischolaChasing Bleed – An American Fantasy Larper at Wizard School by Tara M. ClapperGolden Cobra ChallengeFind Larp Shack on Facebook!Two Hand Path and the Dice Exploder episode about itAd LinksWe Three Shall Meet Again by Sam DunnewoldSocialsKate on Bluesky.Kate’s actual play Path of Glory on twitch.Sam on Bluesky and itch.The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcripts are available at diceexploder.comLarp! It’s that thing where you dress up like wizards, go into the woods, and hit each other with sticks. Right? Well.. yeah! Except no, because it’s a million other things, too.Today I'm gonna introduce you to the world of larp. If you've ever been intimidated by it, this is a place to start. Because I think tabletop designers have so much we could learn from larp, so much that this is the start of a big series on larp.And where better to start than with a mechanic that makes getting into larp easier than ever: just pick up a card and read what it says.Further ReadingGhost Court by Jason MorningstarWe Are Roommates Now by Wendy GormanSpace Larps by Jason MorningstarWelcome Guests by Jason MorningstarThe Climb by Jason MorningstarSo Mom I Made This Sex Tape by Susanne VejdemoBehind the Magic by Randy LubinThe Hench Union Larp by Sam DunnewoldSocialsRandy onBlueskyRandy’s foresight games are at leveragedplay.comRandy’s consumer games are at diegeticgames.comRandy’s online games platformStorySynthSam onBluesky anditchThe Dice Exploder blog is atdiceexploder.comOur logo was designed bysporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song isSunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join theDice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comPregens! They're not just a tool to get started playing quicker, they're also a way for a designer to take you by the hand and guide you to a very specific place, and they're a shared language across every table that picks up your game. Today, Aaron Lim and I break down all the joys and beauty of pregens, up to and including Aaron's meme charts.Aaron’s KickstarterIthaca in the Cards: Second Expedition and What Should We Have Tomorrow? Full CourseAd LinksA Perfect Rock Growing Thylacine: A Pamphlet Zine TTRPGFurther ReadingLast Train to Bremen by Caro AsercionCaro Asercion on Dice ExploderYazeba’s Bed & Breakfast by Possum Creek GamesLady Blackbird by John HarperLarp Design and the chapter BASICS OF CHARACTER DESIGN by Juhana PetterssonSocialsAaron onBluesky anditch.Sam onBluesky anditch.The Dice Exploder blog is atdiceexploder.comOur logo was designed bysporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song isSunset Bridge by Purely Grey.This episode was edited by Chris Greenbriar and Sam Dunnewold.Join theDice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comWhat’s the best way to convey the emotional experience of being a post-apocalyptic demon-fighting wizard action hero? Did you say “a coloring book with some Yahtzee on the side?” Because that’s what Two Hand Path designer Mikey Hamm landed on.Last week was an episode all about the joy of destruction and transgression, and I wanted to balance that out today with another episode on physicality in games and the act of creation. But because I’m joined by the wonderful and prolific Jeeyon Shim, this spilled out into so much more: Jeeyon's background in child education, solo games that ask you to do a verb other than journal, how important it is for our humanity to take breaks and touch grass sometimes, and just how much fun art can be.Further ReadingTwo Hand Path by Mikey HammMaking Comics by Linda BarryField Guide to Memory by Shing Yin Khor and Jeeyon ShimA Mending by Shing Yin KhorAd LinksSock PuppetsMission ImPAWsibleSocialsJeeyon on Patreon, Bluesky, and itch.Sam on Bluesky and itch.The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcripts available at diceexploder.comDon't you hate it when one card in a deck gets a little bent? You ever have someone spill their coffee on your cards while you're playing and wish death upon them? What if I told you there was a game that told you to do these things and worse... on purpose?We're kicking off season 5 of Dice Exploder with two episodes on physicality in games. Today that's Wreck This Deck, and the transgressive feeling you get when the core mechanic of a game is to fuck up a bunch of playing cards. Specifically, we're talking about the revenge demon Flauros and what exactly he demands you do to your deck.Further ReadingAudrey’s podcast Alone At The Table podcast and the Wreck This Deck episodes specificallyThousand Year Old Vampire by Tim HutchingsBirds Love Dirt by Emily JankowskiUnder the Autumn Strangely by Graham GentzBalatroThis video about a particularly infamous Magic: the Gathering commander deckRookwood by Nerdy Pup GamesAd LinksSword OperaShownotesSam on Bluesky and itch.The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcripts can be found at diceexploder.comIt's the Dice Exploder 2024 year end bonanza! This year I'm joined by Aaron Voigt, Rowan Zeoli, and MintRabbit plus a cavalcade of friends of the show to go over games and adjacent things we loved from 2024. Come reminisce about the year with us!Aaron on Youtube and BlueskyRowan on BlueskyMintRabbit on TumblrAaron’s picksLast Train to Bremen by Caro Asercion Fealty by Michael Elliot and Galen PejeauHelvetia by Bully Pulpit Games/Jason Morningstar Rascal News/Scrying on Iran's Tabletop SceneThe Most Important Essay in RPG History Rowan’s picksThe Time We Have by Elliot DavisSeven Part Pact by Jay DragonOceanie 2084Voices in The Wood, a Void 1680 Actual Play. Rowan’s article on Voices in the Woods.Former World of Game Design Employees Claim Tabletop Company Exploits Workers and ClientsMint’s picksThe Gas Station, by DNGNCLUBshadow/giant by PsychHound GamesFlyover Country, by Headstone HillsIn Defense of Fiction, by MeatCastle GamesMint Plays Games: Rotted Capes (And the Lesson I Keep Learning This Year)Sam’s picksTwo Hand Path by Mikey HammFlorilegium by Nick WedigA Visit to the Lonely Oak by Victor LaneThe Disc 2 jam, organized by Ken Lowrey, and specifically the Wanderhome designer commentaryKiss Me If You Can by Sam Dunnewold, and actual play from Third Floor WarsOther PicksKurt Refling’s pick: Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast by Possum Creek GamesMichael Elliott’s pick: Two Hand Path by Mikey HammAlex Roberts on The Highlander II: The Quickening Unofficial Roleplaying Game by Adam DecampJason Morningstar on The Big Store by Nathan D. PaolettaRandy Lubin’s pick: the Dice Exploder DiscordHendrik ten Napel on Eat the Reich by Rowan Rook and DeckardSharang Biswas’s pick: Combat in Dungeons & Dragons by Evan TornerAudrey Stolze’s pick: Band-Aids & Bullet Holes by Sam DunnewoldSydney Icarus’s pick: Working the Case by Randy LubinSeraphina’s pick: Triangle AgencySocialsSam Dunnewold on Bluesky and itch.The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur 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!