This is our first episode in quite some time. The initial discussion of "D&D Fifth Edition" (now officially known as "D&D Next") was recorded in February 2012 and is thus, dated; at the time, the most current news about it was in an article in the New York Times. Many recent podcasts (particularly ones made after Gen Con 2012) have discussed this topic in greater detail. We include this discussion to offer some perspective: this illustrates the various expectations and speculations that have been made about what will be the newest edition of what was once the most popular roleplaying game on the market, when it released in 2014 (or is projected to be at that time).

Furthermore, we discuss the dividing line between "indie" and "mainstream" roleplaying games. The line is thinner and fuzzier than many people believe and after you hear our discussion, you will have much food for thought.

Finally, we interviewed cartoonist extraordinare Stan Sakai at Montreal Comicon 2011. Mr. Sakai is famous for his work on the Usagi Yojimbo comic and many other fine works.

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We return with an honest-to-goodness episode about a game topic! As much as we love interviewing interesting people who are connected to popular culture, it feels good to be back to the game table for an episode. In this one, we talk about miniatures; not miniatures wargaming, but the use of miniatures in roleplaying games (RPGs).

It seems almost odd that we have to introduce miniatures to roleplayers, because RPGs evolved from miniatures wargaming. Indeed, the first RPGs were miniatures wargames optimized to playing a single character, rather than an entire army; a character who went on to evolve from scenario to scenario; scenarios which were more than just a battle. It was when the emphasis switched to interaction and plots and away from combat that roleplaying games evolved into something in which miniatures were optional. This has been great for the maturation of the hobby, but maybe roleplayers are missing out on something.

To that end, we introduce miniatures to roleplayers in this episode, with a few tips on how to get started using them. THere is nothing in here about painting or customizing miniatures or producing scenery. Those are topics for future episodes. Rather, we talk about the general concerns that come with using miniatures at the roleplaying table. We also give the quick and dirty rules to PUMMEL!® (Pick-Up, Multigenre Miniatures, Easy to Learn), a miniatures wargame that can be adapted to any RPG for mass combats; and we offer the quickstart rules for free download.

We also have an interview with Sherwin Tjia, author of the Choose Your Own Adventure-style adventure book You Are A Cat (published on Conundrum Press). Mr. Tija discusses his love of cats, of adventure books, and why he made You Are A Cat. We mention the Cat RPG by John Wick.

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Nancy Kilpatrick is an author of horror fiction. Many of her 18 novels, over 200 short stories, and anthologies have been about vampires. Her breadth and depth of knowledge of the entire vampire sub-genre of horror is staggering, being able to speak about it with eloquence and good humor, without at all belittling the subject or its fans.

We met up with Nancy Kilpatrick at Con*Cept 2011, a science fiction and fantasy convention held in Montreal, every autumn; this year, she was the guest of honor. She gave a great, lively interview that we are proud to share with you in this episode.

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This special episode of DiceCast is in Spanish. Este episodio especial de DiceCast está en español.

Te nemos el plaser de intrevistar a uno de los mejores caricaturista el Sr. Sergio Aragones que fue entrivistado en la sede Montreal Comiccon. Este episodio es espesial para todas las personas que an leida la revista Mad, Groo y Sergio Aragones Funnies. Tambien tenemos una intrevista espesial con un personaje que es reconocido en la lucha libre El Hijo del Santo.

Sergio Aragones habla sobre su vida y sus prollectos realizados y por realizar.El sellor Aragones se ha destaca por la calidad de sus dibujos en las revista Mad y por sus habilidades caricaturistica en el comic Groo y la nueva comic Sergio Aragones Funnies.

El Hijo del Santo es reconocido en la lucha libre, y otras de sus cualidades es haber realisado librros comicos y caricaturas , el hijo del Santo se encuentra partisipando como bocero representando ala fundasion Will Cost que se dedica ala, preservasion, protecsion y cuidado delas espesies marinas en peligro de extision. Esta intrevista fue realisada en FanExpo en Toronto Canada.

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We had the pleasure of interviewing the great cartoonist and comic artist Sergio Aragonés at Montreal Comiccon this month. This episode is a special treat for fans of Mad magazine, Groo, and funny cartoons and comics.

Sergio Aragonés discussed his life as a cartoonist with us, as well as his work. Mr. Aragonés is famous for his "Drawn Out Dramas" and "Marginals" from Mad magazine and for his epic comic series about the terminally stupid, buffoonish barbarian Groo The Wanderer. He has recently began a new series called Sergio Aragonés Funnies, a semi-autobiographical collection of cartoons, puzzles, and other vignettes in his distinct style.

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Otakuthon is Montreal's convention for fans of all things related to anime, manga, and similar fun stuff. It is held every August and they recently completed their 6th annual convention, with as many as 10,000 people attending.Otakuthon features a huge exhibitor's hall, panel discussions, games, music, a dance, a masquerade, and of course, screenings.

We went to Otakuthon and we interviewed participants, exhibitors, and organizers.

Interviewed in this episode

Bumpers in this episode

• More interviews from Otakuthon 2011 are available at the site for our French podcast, Royale With Cheese.
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