Dice Exploder

TranscriptThrilled 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 ReadingApocalypse World by Vincent and Meguey BakerAaron King’s Worksheet ManifestoThe SF Ultra podcastReading the Apocalypse by Aaron KingSocialsRTFM podcast and PatreonSam D on Bluesky and itchThe Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.comOur 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 LinksJukebox by Jar of EyesOh Captain My Captain by James D’Amato

TranscriptIt’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 ReadingMe on the Party of One PodcastDesperation by Bully Pulpit GamesSocialsSam D on Bluesky and itchThe 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!Ad LinksSpectrum Roleplaying by Nat KnightSock 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.

TranscriptI 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)NeverlandQuestPathfinderErrantEm’s PatreonEm’s banger games Exiles and Crescent MoonSocialsHire EmSam 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!

Back ⁠⁠Dice Exploder season 4 on Backerkit⁠⁠ now!⁠TranscriptThis 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 ReadingThe Game Left Unplayed, blogpost by Jay DragonD&D third editionD&D 3.5 editionSam R’s game Escape from Dino IslandSocialsSam D 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!

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!TranscriptAmong 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 RobertsStarscape by Kimi HughesOh Captain My Captain by James D’AmatoSocialsKimi on Bluesky as well as Golden Lasso Games.Happy Jacks on YouTube.Sam 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!

TranscriptIt 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 ReadingNorthfield, the game, on the Bully Pulpit PatreonVideo of the Defeat of Jesse James Days reenactmentOfficial Defeat of Jesse James Days websitePhoto of (allegedly) Charlie Pitts’ earWikipedia articles on Northfield and the James-Younger gangSocialsSam on Bluesky and itch.Jason on ⁠Bluesky⁠ and ⁠dice.camp⁠.⁠Bully Pulpit Games⁠The 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!

TranscriptFor Ken Lowery’s Disc 2 jam, I decided to finally release the game I’ve been working on for nearly four years: Space Fam.This is a game about, you guessed it, found family in space. In particular, it takes a lot of inspiration from The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet in that you’re the crew of a ship escorting a traveler from point A to point B, and along the way you deal with your feelings of guilt and stress about living under an oppressive government.It’s a hack of Our Traveling Home by Ash Kreider, and it’s like 90% of the way to really great. But that last 10% is always the hard 10%, and I decided it was time to let this game just be what it is and push it out into the world.As a part of that, I wanted to look back on the design process. What went well, what didn’t, what would I change if I was going to spend another 30 minutes or 30 years on this thing. To do that, I sat down with two of my friends who playtested the game, and we talked about all things Space Fam.Further ReadingSpace Fam on itchThe Disc 2 jam.A commentary podcast episode for Space Fam is available here.I wrote about the design of Space Fam's "scenes menu" here​.I wrote about the design of the Space Fam character sheet here​.Our Traveling Home by Ash KreiderStewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern by Takuma OkadaSpace Post by Jason MorningstarThe WatchNight Witches by Jason MorningstarSocialsSam 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!