Dice Exploder

Transcript Today, Caro Asercion (i'm sorry did you say street magic) brings us a game and mechanic all about instinct and physical embodiment: Keys from the larp Keymaster. This game isn't like most games. It’s so much about physical embodiment and exploring group identity rather than pesky shit like “storytelling”. Physicality! Larp! The Golden Cobra Challenge! We've got it all. Further Reading Keymaster by J Li The Golden Cobra Challenge i’m sorry did you say street magic by Caro Asercion Socials Caro on itch Sam D 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! Ad Links Oh Captain My Captain by James D’Amato Stout Stoat Press

Transcript Thrilled this week to have on one of my favorite movewrights, it’s Aaron King of the RTFM podcast. Aaron brought on Love Letters from Apocalypse World, a kind of custom move the GM can write when it’s been a while since we played and everyone might need a refresher on what was going on to get the ball rolling again. I think custom moves are a wildly overlooked part of Apocalypse World, and today we go deep on why that is and how and when to write your own. Further Reading Apocalypse World by Vincent and Meguey Baker Aaron King’s Worksheet Manifesto The SF Ultra podcast Reading the Apocalypse by Aaron King Socials RTFM podcast and Patreon Sam D 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. This episode was edited by Chris Greenbriar. Thanks Chris! Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Ad Links Jukebox by Jar of Eyes Oh Captain My Captain by James D’Amato

Transcript It’s the crossover event of the season! This week I’m joined by Jeff Stormer of the Party of One podcast to talk about the core mechanic of Desperation by Jason Morningstar. In this game full of dread about a small Kansas town struggling through a never-ending winter, instead of deciding what happens, each turn you draw a card and decide who the thing on the card happens to. It’s a super slick mechanic. Meanwhile over on Party of One, you can listen to Jeff and I actually play the game. Further Reading Me on the Party of One Podcast Desperation by Bully Pulpit Games Socials Sam D 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! Ad Links Spectrum Roleplaying by Nat Knight Sock Puppets by Kurt Refling

In this touching chat, the speaker sits down with his father, a veteran Dungeon Master and his first guide in the world of D&D. They reminisce about their early games in the 80s, filled with laughter and mishaps. The conversation dives deep into the complexities of the infamous THAC0 system, revealing how they navigated its confusion without strict adherence to rules. They also reflect on the magic of structured role-playing and the joy of shared adventures, highlighting the lifelong impact of those formative gaming experiences.

Transcript I have a list of mechanics I’d like to cover on Dice Exploder, and I’d say about a third of them are jokes. One of those jokes is Rule Zero, a maxim that says "the DM (or GM) is always right." I think of Rule Zero as originating in D&D culture, and as part of this D&D miniseries, I thought it'd be interesting to use as a way into talking about the play culture around the game, how it's actually played at the table, and how many of its rules people actually use. There's no one I'd rather talk with about "do rules matter" than returning cohost Em Acosta (Exiles, Crescent Moon) who's spent a lot of time thinking about what rules they find actually useful in play. And in the end, we find yet another answer to my series-long quest for an answer to the question: "what actually is Dungeons & Dragons?" Further Reading: Rule Zero on TV Tropes (I do not endorse this but interesting context) Neverland Quest Pathfinder Errant Em’s Patreon Em’s banger games Exiles and Crescent Moon Socials Hire Em 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!

Back ⁠⁠Dice Exploder season 4 on Backerkit⁠⁠ now! ⁠Transcript This episode I'm joined by Sam Roberts (Escape from Dino Island) to talk about prestige classes, special classes from D&D 3e that you could only take by multiclassing into them. Sam thinks of these things as a noble failure: a very cool idea whose execution almost immediately dropped the ball. But what can we learn from their corpse? We get into that, along with a boots-on-the-ground discussion of what our experiences were like actually playing D&D 3rd edition and an exploration of advancement as a concept at large: how does it work in most games, and how might it work instead? Further Reading The Game Left Unplayed, blogpost by Jay Dragon D&D third edition D&D 3.5 edition Sam R’s game Escape from Dino Island Socials Sam D 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!

Tristan Zimmerman, designer of the award-winning game Shanty Hunters and author of the Molten Sulfur blog, joins for a deep dive into D&D mechanics. He discusses the Adventuring Day concept, meant for balanced gameplay across 6-8 combat encounters, and its practical challenges. Tristan shares memorable experiences from GenCon and how LARPing influenced his gaming journey. He also explores resource management and the evolution of spellcasting in D&D, emphasizing how innovative mechanics can reshape traditional gameplay and storytelling.

Delve into the world of Dungeons & Dragons with a skeptical perspective. Explore the cultural and community aspects of D&D, including the evolution of RPGs and character advancement. Learn about the influence of popular actual plays on gameplay styles.

Back Dice Exploder season 4 on Backerkit now! Transcript Among my favorite RPGs is Alex Roberts' triumph of minimalistic, elegant design: For The Queen. Today I'm doing just with along with Kimi Hughes of Golden Lasso Games. For The Queen is a card drawing prompt game, and one prompt is always the game's last: "The Queen is under attack. Do you defend her?" That's today's mechanic, but we cover most of this pretty small game at some point. You can back Kimi's new game Starscape on Kickstarter now! Further Reading: For The Queen by Alex Roberts Starscape by Kimi Hughes Oh Captain My Captain by James D’Amato Socials Kimi on Bluesky as well as Golden Lasso Games. Happy Jacks on YouTube. 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 It is still designer commentary season on Dice Exploder, and today I'm talking with Jason Morningstar (Fiasco, Night Witches, a million other games) about Northfield: a game we co-designed about when Jesse James tried to rob the bank in my home town, we shot the hell out of him and his gang, and then we started an annual small town fair to celebrate our victory. You play as both a member of the James-Younger gang and as a person in the present day portraying your gang member in a reenactment. It's a weird little game, much like its subject matter, and surprisingly personal to me (Jason was not surprised). On this episode, we break down the process of our collaboration and how we feel about the results (very positively). More than any other designer commentary I've done, I hope you check out this game. I'm really proud of it. You can get it on the Bully Pulpit Patreon now for $5. Further Reading Northfield, the game, on the Bully Pulpit Patreon Video of the Defeat of Jesse James Days reenactment Official Defeat of Jesse James Days website Photo of (allegedly) Charlie Pitts’ ear Wikipedia articles on Northfield and the James-Younger gang Socials Sam on Bluesky and itch. Jason on ⁠Bluesky⁠ and ⁠dice.camp⁠. ⁠Bully Pulpit Games⁠ 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!