Reading D&D Aloud

Owen KC Stephens is the legendary game designer who co-designed the SAGA edition Star Wars RPG and Starfinder, but ask him if game designers are cool, and he'll tell you cool is for other people. We cover snake people, pirates, Cthulhu, and imposter syndrome on this week's episode of Reading D&D Aloud! Entertain your mind with Owen's visions by contributing to his Patreon here! Keep Owen in fine financial fettle for his fight against cancer by contributing to his GoFundMe here! Are you intrigued by Reading D&D Aloud? Tempted? Get the full experience by supporting our Patreon! Get access to our Discord, access special Patron-only episodes, and see vital documents from the history of TTRPGs as Ben digitizes his archives!   

Today, we continue our discussion about "Wish" in with 5E co-lead designer, Mike Mearls! And once that discussion is complete, I ask Mike a question that has fueled endless internet speculation since 2019: Why did Mike leave D&D? Did you know that in 1995, TSR sold $1 million of modules, but $1.2 million in Monstrous Compendiums? Become a Patreon subscriber and you too can learn fascinating facts like that as Ben digitizes his archive! Every week, receive another historical document from the golden age of D&D! All that and a Patreon and special episodes just for you! Click here to support us!

Richard Dansky was one of the core voices during the golden age of White Wolf. In this episode, we discuss one of the most unusual parts of the most unusual game published by White Wolf in the 90s: the Shadow, a player at the table who played the voice of the devil in your head. Pickup Dansky's books here! Ben has begun to digitize his D&D history archive. Every Wednesday, he will be releasing one new digital document on the show's Patreon Discord. Last week, it was campaign setting sales per category, 1983 to 1993. (Did you know Greyhawk sold 11 million products in that time, while Dragonlance moved 20 million, and Forgotten Realms 24 million, even though the Realms was published last?) A mere $3 a month gets you access to such historical gems, the Discord, and special patrons-only episodes! Click here to support us!

Erin M. Evans wrote seven Forgotten Realms novels, and she joins us today to talk about what happened when she referenced sex in her novel, The Adversary... Pick up Erin's novel, Empire of Exiles, here! Ben has begun to digitize his D&D history archive. Every Wednesday, he will be releasing one new digital document on the show's Patreon Discord. Last week, it was campaign setting sales per category, 1983 to 1993. (Did you know Greyhawk sold 11 million products in that time, while Dragonlance moved 20 million, and Forgotten Realms 24 million, even though the Realms was published last?) A mere $3 a month gets you access to such historical gems, the Discord, and special patrons-only episodes! Click here to support us!

Behold the dark and deadly dungeons beneath the desert's sands! TSR alumna Sue Weinlein joins Ben Riggs to discuss the 2nd edition Al-Qadim supplement, Cities of Bone.   

Billy Wardlow was executed in Texas on July 8th, 2020. He spent his last few weeks of life playing D&D. We only know about it because of the fantastic journalism of Keri Blakinger. Today, Ben Riggs and Dr. Aaron Trammell discuss her article, "The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row" with Keri herself. Read Keri's article here. Like what we do? Support the show on Patreon, and you'll get special episodes, such as Ben Riggs reading the Dungeon Masters Guide aloud with Dr. Scott Bruner! Hear Ben's seminars on D&D history! Chat on our Discord! All that, for a mere $3 per month! Click here to support us!

Sometimes, you catch lightning in a bottle. That is what happened in this conversation between 3rd ed designer Jonathan Tweet, 4th ed designer Rob Heinsoo, and controversial D&D historian Ben Riggs about the spell "Wish" in D&D." Like what we do? Support the show on Patreon, and you'll get special episodes, such as Ben Riggs reading the Dungeon Masters Guide aloud with Dr. Scott Bruner! Hear Ben's seminars on D&D history! Chat on our Discord! All that, for a mere $3 per month! Click here to support us!

Wish is a spell that is ridiculously powerful, ridiculously fun, and (perhaps) ridiculously broken! We're going to do a deep dive and look at the spell across editions. Helping us look at the spell in 2nd and 3rd edition D&D are designer Skip Williams and show stalwart, Eliza Lambert! Like what we do? Support the show on Patreon, and you'll get special episodes, such as Ben Riggs reading the Dungeon Masters Guide aloud with Dr. Scott Bruner! Hear Ben's seminars on D&D history! Chat on our Discord! All that, for a mere $3 per month! Click here to support us!

Dungeon Crawl Classics designer Joseph Goodman set out to make a TTRPG that would recreate the wonders of fantasy and sci-fi literature as laid out by Gary Gygax in Appendix N of the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide. In Appendix N of the Dungeon Crawl Classics, Goodman explains what he learned from Gygax's Appendix N, and how DCC is a response to it. Writer, editor, and icon of the industry James Lowder joins us to read it aloud! Like what we do? Support the show on Patreon, and you'll get special episodes, such as Ben Riggs reading the Dungeon Masters Guide aloud with Dr. Scott Bruner! Hear Ben's seminars on D&D history! Chat on our Discord! All that, for a mere $3 per month! Click here to support us! Peter Bebergal's Appendix N anthology can be found here!

Today, I humbly offer you joy and the bladesinger! The bladesingers were elven warrior-wizards who swore to defend Elvenkind against all foes. They were tattooed dandies who danced into combat, and they were so cool that they have appeared in every edition of D&D since. Here, I speak with actress and DM Eliza Lambert about them! Link in the comments!  If you want to support the show, join our Patreon here!