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 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!
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1:35:10
The Challenge Deck (Wickedness) with Audrey Stolze and Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
Transcripts available at diceexploder.com
A few weeks back, a conversation on the Dice Exploder discord lead to a new game jam: the Femininomenon Jam, a jam about femininity and whatever that means to you, happening now on itch.io through February 11th. To help kick off your thinking on what a game in this theme might look like, today two of the hosts of that jam sit down to talk about the challenge deck from Wickedness by M. Veselak. In this game about a coven of three witches, the challenge deck is a bespoke oracle for conflict resolution. And right out of the gate we get to dive into the deep end with this jam's topic as we ask: is this mechanic "feminine"? What would that even mean?
Further Reading:
Wickedness by M. Veselak
The Femininomenon Jam
Socials
Audrey Stolze / Lady Tabletop on itch and tumblr
Seraphina on itch and bluesky
Audrey’s solo games podcast Alone At The Table
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!
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32:53
AMA with Merrilee Bufkin
Transcripts available at diceexploder.com
I usually like to think of Dice Exploder as a pretty focused show with a pretty tight format. Yeah we may sprawl sometimes, but we’re not here shooting the shit, we’re here to talk game mechanics. But sometimes, a guy wants to stretch out like a dog in the sun, hang out for a while, and just yap the day away while answering a bunch of listener questions. And there’s no one I like yapping with more than my friend Merrilee Bufkin. So this week, it’s casual times on Dice exploder as the two of us answer a bunch of listener questions.
Further Reading:
Aaron Voigt’s youtube essays
Kurt Riefling on itch
Sam's favorite games blogpost
Exiles by Ema Acosta
Jiangshi by Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim
Fiasco by Jason Morningstar
The Forge book by William J. White
Secco Creek Vigilance Committee by Keith Stetson
Killing Time by BrewistTabletopGames
Socials
Merrilee on Bluesky and itch.
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!
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1:00:55
Deep Cuts with John Harper
Transcripts available at diceexploder.com
It’s a Dice Exploder EMERGENCY POD! Less than 24 hours ago as of recording, John Harper, designer of Blades in the Dark, released a brand new official supplement for the game: Blades in the Dark: Deep Cuts. It’s 110 pages packed full of new setting and new mechanic ideas, and I really wanted to talk about it! I love Apocalypse World’s concept of “advanced fuckery,” and I’ve never seen such a good and extended example of it all in one place.
Further Reading:
Deep Cuts by John Harper
How to Overcome Your Hyperdiegesis Allergy by Idle Cartulary
Errant by
Otherkind Dice on Dice Exploder, with John Harper
Socials
John on Bluesky and Twitter.
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!
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49:30
Dice Forager: a Dice Exploder zine
Transcripts available at diceexploder.com
Hello from the between-season malaise! Today I'm joined by Aaron King, back again, who interviews me about my new zine Dice Forager: a 50 page collection of games, manifestos, and mini written-out episodes of Dice Exploder. We talk about how setting goals is great and people should do it for, what counts as a manifesto, and how making art meant just for your friends can be just as if not more rewarding than for any other reason.
Preorder Dice Forager now! (if you live in the US, otherwise DM me and maybe we can work something out)
Further Reading:
Dice Exploder blog: Hospitality, Safety, and Calibration
Traffic Lights are Communication Tools by Meguey Baker
World Ending Game by Everest Pipkin
Your public library
Socials
Aaron King on itch and the RTFM podcast.
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!
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
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