Claim OwnershipThe Diceology Podcast
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Welcome to Diceology, where we dive deep into the stories that make tabletop role-playing games more than just dice and character sheets. As a GM-at-Large, I explore the lives of gamers, facilitators, con organizers, and the creators who bring these worlds to life.
Think StoryCorps for gamers: We talk about where games fit into people’s lives, what early gaming was like, and even what life looks like after the dice are put away. I also share my own GM-at-Large adventures—what I’m playing, running, or prepping at the table or online.
Whether you’re curious about the latest trends in TTRPGs, or just want to hear the stories of those who play and create them, Diceology is here to bring you the rest of the gamer’s story. Roll initiative, and let’s get started!
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In this episode, we reflect on our favorite tabletop RPG experiences of 2024 and discuss exciting upcoming games for 2025. We explore character creation, the importance of storytelling, and how strange mechanics add depth to our games. • Reflection on standout RPG experiences of 2024 • Insights from Judd Karlman on tabletop storytelling • Exploration of the Ioun City game and its unique narrative • Importance of memorable NPCs and their impact on gameplay • Embracing the weirdness and unpred...
2Eleven returns with Jolt! Welcome to Session Zero for Jolt! A Champions Now actual play. I feel like I must remind you I do not receive any kickbacks for the millions of Champions Now sessions, content, or name drops! 🤣 Champions Now RPG has been a great source 0f fun for me, and I am thrilled to have Rich Rogers of +1 Forward fame along for the ride! Nathan Fellows was the Jolt! Cola Super Supermodel back in the day. Today, Nathan is an aging, unemployed speedster juggling multiple gigs in ...
Champions Now Jolt #2 -3 Nathan interviews for the super spokesmodel position at Door Dash but gets an emergency text from his wife and leaves abruptly! 3Pain, the witness protection assassin, has made a house call looking for 'Claire' AKA Sera, Nathan's wife, who's in the program. Later, Nathan and OB discuss OB's debt to Red-Eye, the wetwork job left undone, and a secret lab OB found doing that job. Next Jolt #3: Nathan and OB check out that secret lab with help from Cherry Bomb, Forbes CEO...
Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening to Diceology! If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Want to support the show and get exclusive content? Head over to Play Fearless or My Patreon to subscribe and join the community! Let's make this our regular thing! 🤘🏾
My guests, Jason Lutes and Paul Beakley, and I get lost in the West Marches game style. Jason is currently running his second West Marches campaign using Freebooters on the Frontier and Arden Vul as the setting. I get an incredible amount of joy from running West Marches campaigns, and geeking out with both Jason and Paul on the subject was good stuff. I am very, very sorry for some of the audio. I recorded using a new audio platform and discovered issues with Paul's audio in the record...
Easily the week of the West Marches. Starting with my halfling wizard’s Arden Vul adventure to helping my local gamers launch their own IRL West Marches games. It’s got me thinking about other non-fantasy applications. On the Gauntlet, we’ve wrapped up a three-session run of Fading Suns with Lowell Francis at the helm. He also hosted a Zoom talk about Legacy 2E: Life among the Ruins. Best practices, some thoughts around running the game, hacking the game. Pretty much talked me into running Le...
Fading Suns Fading Suns on The Gauntlet. Lowell Francis trying out the system, and you can tell he’s down his prep. I’m playing an Ur-Ukar witch with TK-like abilities. We’ve taken up a mission from a noble to be his escort and eyes and ears in a hostile system. Fading Suns has pulled at me for some years now; I’m hoping to jump-start my future runs of it by playing it first. At its core, it is a Skill + ability roll under system. This was our session one, and we got a small, easy skirmish un...
Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening to Diceology! If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Want to support the show and get exclusive content? Head over to Play Fearless or My Patreon to subscribe and join the community! Let's make this our regular thing! 🤘🏾
Mad Jay talks about Mythras and Glorantha, Twilight: 2000, Horizon Zero Dawn, Cortex and BX D&D with Old School Essentials! Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening to Diceology! If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Want to support the show and get exclusive content? Head over to Play Fearless or My Patreon to subscribe and join the community! Let's make this our regular thing! 🤘🏾
Have you ever wondered what it's like to turn your tabletop gaming passion into a profession? Judd Karlman and I chat about our extraordinary path from hobbyists to professional game masters (GMs), revealing the quirky, exciting, and sometimes absurd adventures that come with the territory. From hilarious bachelor party RPG requests to the broader implications of monetizing our love for gaming, we peel back the curtain on a niche that's rapidly gaining traction. Join us as we reminisce about ...
Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening to Diceology! If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Want to support the show and get exclusive content? Head over to Play Fearless or My Patreon to subscribe and join the community! Let's make this our regular thing! 🤘🏾
My guest today is a gamer I admire for his style of DMing and asking players questions. He has the uncanny ability for generating gameable premises. He is the author of the Dictionary of Mu, a favorite sword and sorcery setting of mine. He's the host of the Daydreaming About Dragons podcast and my current Friday morning GM for Trophy Gold. Judd Karlman Blog: githyankidiaspora.com Podcast: https://anchor.fm/daydreaming-about-dragons Twitch.tv/ActualPlay Trophy Gold Worlds of ...
I've recorded this conversation with Geoff and Neil from my Twilight: 2000 Saturday morning game. This group, this time slot, and the game are a magical thing for me right now, and I suspect for the four players as well. I wanted to get their thoughts and feels 10 sessions in about the game, the group, and whatever else comes up. Content warning. Twilight: 2000 is a survival sandbox game set in war-torn Poland in the 2000s. There are parallels with the current invasion of Ukraine and we...
Started Mothership with Judd. I'm playing a character inspired by Fox Mulder. The pitch: Two scientists investigate the disappearance of their professor and the crew of a science vessel. Twilight: 2000: The discovery of a dead soldier stashed in the woods and a convoy heading toward Barnes's occupied Polish town, sends Bard and Justin off to extract Tracy and Janush. They decide to confront the polish spook, Phil before sneaking out of the encampment and back to their ...
Rich Rogers, co-host of Plus One Forward and designer of Hit the Streets: Defend the Block, an ENnie award-winning street-level supers RPG joins me to talk about his gaming week - it's like a mini-con!! Rich's Stone Top duet game with his wife, Vampire 5e, Bounty of the Week (Monster of the Week hack), Gravity Rip, Star Wars Blades in the Dark, Rascals, X-Crawl. Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening to Diceology! If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to subscribe so you neve...
Running: Whitehack + Dungeons and Dilemmas Twilight: 2000: Base building and sweet, sweet sandbox magic. Legacy 2E: Life Among the Ruins. Four families and bad virtual dice rolling! Wrath & Glory 1v1. Tech-Priest visiting a Space Hulk. Playing An ex-Stormtrooper in Bounty of the Week on twitch.tv/actualplay, Rich Rogers is running it. A Buzzard-headed god of death in Godbound Northern Death Pantheon. And thinking about Dragons.. 😉 Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening...
The 2021 Mad Jay Picks! Some year-end metrics and my personal game picks for: Most Surprised Experience. The Old Man Logan Award.The Lethal Sessions AwardMost evocative settingClosest to my heart.Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening to Diceology! If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Want to support the show and get exclusive content? Head over to Play Fearless or My Patreo...
Send a text Support the show Thanks for listening to Diceology! If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Want to support the show and get exclusive content? Head over to Play Fearless or My Patreon to subscribe and join the community! Let's make this our regular thing! 🤘🏾
The One Ring on Twitch is a wrap at 11 sessions! We've traveled from Rivendell to the Cold Fells to Bree and finale in the South Barrow-downs tracking down the fell sorcerer Gorlanc! Rich Rogers of +1 Forward takes the reigns and will run Bounty of the Week in the new year! Twilight: 2000 - Straight Outta Kalisz the Saturday sessions, we're two sessions into a gas station firefight! Combat is STRESSful! Whitehack RPG has been fun on Tuesday nights, I'm digging the fiction that get...
On the table 3 sessions in for Vena and the King of Nothing! We had a solid ordinary but strong third session of Burning Wheel. We talk about the three sessions and the game so far, the good, the bad, and what's next. Spoilers: Elle is still game! I did a panel called Fresh Starts for Big Bad Con with Lowel Francis from the Gauntlet and Rich Rogers of +1 Forward fame. We talked about starting new games with new groups. I re-started a Twilight: 2000 limited series, a reboot of a one-shot...
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