A show about tabletop RPG design. Each episode we bring you a single mechanic and break it down as deep as we possibly can. Co-hosted by Sam Dunnewold and a rot...
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!
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42:37
Mule (Last Train to Bremen) and Pregenerated Characters with Aaron Lim
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!
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47:09
Coloring Book Character Sheet (Two Hand Path) with Jeeyon Shim
Transcripts available at diceexploder.com
What’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 Reading
Two Hand Path by Mikey Hamm
Making Comics by Linda Barry
Field Guide to Memory by Shing Yin Khor and Jeeyon Shim
A Mending by Shing Yin Khor
Ad Links
Sock Puppets
Mission ImPAWsible
Socials
Jeeyon on Patreon, Bluesky, and itch.
Sam on Bluesky and itch.
The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com
Our 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!
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55:47
Flauros the Demon (Wreck This Deck) with Audrey Stolze
Transcripts available at diceexploder.com
Don'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 Reading
Audrey’s podcast Alone At The Table podcast and the Wreck This Deck episodes specifically
Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings
Birds Love Dirt by Emily Jankowski
Under the Autumn Strangely by Graham Gentz
Balatro
This video about a particularly infamous Magic: the Gathering commander deck
Rookwood by Nerdy Pup Games
Ad Links
Sword Opera
Shownotes
Sam on Bluesky and itch.
The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com
Our 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!
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50:44
2024 Year End Bonanza
Transcripts can be found at diceexploder.com
It'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 Bluesky
Rowan on Bluesky
MintRabbit on Tumblr
Aaron’s picks
Last Train to Bremen by Caro Asercion
Fealty by Michael Elliot and Galen Pejeau
Helvetia by Bully Pulpit Games/Jason Morningstar
Rascal News/Scrying on Iran's Tabletop Scene
The Most Important Essay in RPG History
Rowan’s picks
The Time We Have by Elliot Davis
Seven Part Pact by Jay Dragon
Oceanie 2084
Voices 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 Clients
Mint’s picks
The Gas Station, by DNGNCLUB
shadow/giant by PsychHound Games
Flyover Country, by Headstone Hills
In Defense of Fiction, by MeatCastle Games
Mint Plays Games: Rotted Capes (And the Lesson I Keep Learning This Year)
Sam’s picks
Two Hand Path by Mikey Hamm
Florilegium by Nick Wedig
A Visit to the Lonely Oak by Victor Lane
The Disc 2 jam, organized by Ken Lowrey, and specifically the Wanderhome designer commentary
Kiss Me If You Can by Sam Dunnewold, and actual play from Third Floor Wars
Other Picks
Kurt Refling’s pick: Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast by Possum Creek Games
Michael Elliott’s pick: Two Hand Path by Mikey Hamm
Alex Roberts on The Highlander II: The Quickening Unofficial Roleplaying Game by Adam Decamp
Jason Morningstar on The Big Store by Nathan D. Paoletta
Randy Lubin’s pick: the Dice Exploder Discord
Hendrik ten Napel on Eat the Reich by Rowan Rook and Deckard
Sharang Biswas’s pick: Combat in Dungeons & Dragons by Evan Torner
Audrey Stolze’s pick: Band-Aids & Bullet Holes by Sam Dunnewold
Sydney Icarus’s pick: Working the Case by Randy Lubin
Seraphina’s pick: Triangle Agency
Socials
Sam Dunnewold 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!
A show about tabletop RPG design. Each episode we bring you a single mechanic and break it down as deep as we possibly can. Co-hosted by Sam Dunnewold and a rotating roster of designers. diceexploder.com