Dieku Podcast

After watching an incredible football game on Sunday between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, it made me realize the similarities between Sports and the OSR Style of play.   OSR Style of Play = Sports (Random Tables & Complete Player Agency)  Other Styles = Scripted Drama (Railroad & Adventure Path) This is NOT to be confused with Ben Milton's great comparison of Combat as Sport vs War video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnKc64ADYf8   My take is about the dramatic formula, between a scripted TV Detective Show and a Live Sporting Event, where the sport has so many variables that play out in real time, that the OSR is more akin to sports which provides that special magic of the unknown. Dieku Discord Channel https://discord.gg/6JVnTPpF  Thanks for listening https://www.twitter.com/diekugames https://www.facebook.com/diekugames https://www.instagram.com/diekugames  https://www.tiktok.com/@diekugames https://diekugames.itch.io  https://www.patreon.com/diekugames

After taking a bit of a break over the holidays, the channel is ramping back up with more long-form interviews with some incredible of designers.  In the meantime, I just wanted to take the opportunity to look at what some of our previous guests have been up to!

2021 was another interesting year in the TTRPG Industry, and we asked Shannon Appelcline, author of the "Designers & Dragons" series, to provide historical context to what we are seeing in a Year in Review.  Shannon also shared his insights on a variety of current topics including the return of conventions, DnD5E, OSR, Indie Games, Kickstarter, Swedish Game Design, Free League, Mothership, Pathfinder, TSR3 & Ernie Gygax, VTT, Critical Role, DnD Live, Diversity & Inclusion, and many other trends and topics!  We also got a sneak peek of Shannon's upcoming projects, including a new edition of Designers & Dragons for the 2010s which he shares with his patrons at: https://www.patreon.com/designersanddragons  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designersanddragons/ Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Designers-Dragons-History-Roleplaying-Industry/dp/B0848YJ84B/ DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/141206/Designers--Dragons-The-Complete-Hardcover-Set-BUNDLE   Learn more about Dieku Games at:  https://diekugames.com https://diekugames.itch.io https://www.instagram.com/diekugames https://www.twitter.com/diekugames https://www.facebook.com/diekugames #gamedesign #ttrpg #dnd

We were joined by Gavriel Quiroga, designer of Hell Night which is currently on Kickstarter until January 22.  Gavriel discusses discusses his inspiration for design Hell Night, as well as his older games Warpland and Neurocity.  Learn more at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gavrielquiroga/hell-night https://www.facebook.com/gavriel.quiroga https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/17285/Gavriel-Quiroga

We were joined by prolific game designer, Philip Reed, who has produced volumes of supplements over his career. Although he has a full time job as CEO of Steve Jackson Games, he continues to pursue making small indie style game supplements out of his sheer love of design. Most recently he has created several supplements for OSR style games such as o Mork Borg and Troika. He shared some of his design process and lessons that he has learned over a career that has spanned over 25+ years!  To learn more:  https://twitter.com/philipjreed https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/philipreed/created https://www.battlegrip.com http://www.sjgames.com

We were joined by Matthew Carlson, the creator of WanderSquares,  The Underwood Tunnels - a fantasy tabletop role playing game with an ever-changing map and choose-your-path adventure guide, designed for adventurers, 9 & up!   WanderSquares successfully completed their first Kickstarter in 2020, and now is looking to launch their second adventure - The Golden Hive - in 2022!  For more information on WanderSquares: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wandersquares/wandersquares-the-underwood-tunnels https://www.wandersquares.com https://www.facebook.com/WanderSquares https://twitter.com/wandersquares https://www.instagram.com/wandersquaresgame

Making role-playing games can feel futile at times, and sometimes you feel like just giving up. Maybe your game is too weird, too old, too..... whatever! I came across this inspiring interview with Wes Anderson from the New York Public Library, and it made me realize that sometimes you just have to find your audience, even if it is just a single voice.

We were joined by Yochai Gal, the creator of Cairn, an adventure game about exploring a dark and mysterious Wood filled with strange folk, hidden treasure, and unspeakable monstrosities. Character generation is quick and random, classless, and relies on fictional advancement rather than through XP or level mechanics. It is based on Knave by Ben Milton and Into The Odd by Chris McDowall.    The interview covers Yochai’s journey ranging from the random discovery of Palladium Fantasy, to PBtA, and finally landing the Old School Revolution (OSR). Yochai went on with others to define new variations of OSR's approach as the New School Revolution (NSR) which has grown into an active and thriving game design community. For more information on items within the interview:  https://cairnrpg.com https://newschoolrevolution.com/  https://classless-kobolds.itch.io/weird-north https://www.instagram.com/licopeoart https://www.bastionland.com https://mausritter.com https://www.youtube.com/questingbeast https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year https://lichvanwinkle.blogspot.com https://discourse.rpgcauldron.com

We were joined by Tim Earley, who recently completed a successful Kickstarter for his new game - Holler, an Appalachian Apocalypse folk horror game. Tim's shares the inspiration for the game as a love letter to his own heritage and experiences growing in the Appalachia. Tim also shares how he got into RPGs and designing games, as well as the string of events that caused Pinnacle Entertainment Group to embrace Holler as one of their own products under the Savage Worlds brand. For more information: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/545820095/holler-an-appalachian-apocalypse-for-savage-worlds http://www.timearley.net https://peginc.com

Leo from LF OSR  joins us to discuss his journey into the world of OSR, starting with AD&D stylized illustrations which grew into a thriving printing and design business including the amazing Packet of Particular Peaks!  Leo also shared his advice for new designers thinking about taking their first steps into printing their games and zines.   For more information on LF OSR https://lfosr.com https://www.instagram.com/lf_osr https://twitter.com/lf_osr  Learn more about Dieku Games: https://diekugames.com https://diekugames.itch.io https://www.instagram.com/diekugames https://www.twitter.com/diekugames Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z7gNqSZvX20