Thomas and Chase wade into a forum controversy over Deathrbringer that's about something other than the purile art and misguided promises of lethality. They also discuss delays to the Wolfenstein RPG adaptation and the slightly baffling (deep breath) Anne Rice's Immortal Universe Roleplaying Game, which will have plenty of vampires but somehow be distinct from Vampire: The Masquerade. Finally, they discuss the TTGDA's guidance on properly crediting game designers before hacking their way free of a Question Dungeon full of 20 bloodthirsty Jimothies.

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TTGDA Crediting Best Practices

Hollandspiele's video on René Soriano's games

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we mention:

Deathbringer

Shadowdark

Vampire the Masquerade

Diplomacy

A Perfect Rock

Band of Blades

Apocalypse World: Warriors of the World Ablaze

Heads up: We explain some large structural spoilers for SPINE during this interview but stay away from particular details.

While Thomas plans the next seasons of the Reading Club, Chase invites designer Asa Donald for a conversation about his ENNIE-nominated solo RPG, SPINE. The peculiar title wrestles with questions of player agency and the capacity of words to reflect ourselves - or, at least, a version of us. An academic and early modernist by day, Asa explains the literary and classical roots underpinning SPINE's tale of immortality and discusses how the endnotes system creates fruitful frustration.

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Find SPINE here and the rest of Asa's work on Backwards Tabletop.

Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring guest Asa Donald (@backwardsttrpg.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we discuss:

SPINE

The King is Dead

Firebrands

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Asa's retrospective on SPINE and printing your own copy of the game.

Game Studies Study Buddies' episode on The Ludic Self in Seventeeth-Century English Literature.

Chase is joined by designer and blogger Clayton Notestine of Explorer's Design to discuss the ENNIEs, both as a former judge and as a current nominee! Awards are a strange beast for tabletop RPGs, mattering very little but able to change smaller designers' career trajectory. How does the public's misapprehensions about these awards for ostensible "excellence" muddy the waters? And who is responsible for correcting course?

The duo also talk about generative AI sneaking into tabletop publishing via Adobe software backends. Later, Clayton explains his dual metric for rating board games (which involves mouthfeel), while Chase is still not facing consequences for quadruple-dealing in Diplomacy. Finally, they wade into the The Question Dungeon's muck and scare out a discussion on why more RPGs should play their genres straight.

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Read Clayton's work on Explorers Design.

Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring guest Clayton Notestine (@explorersdesign.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we discuss:

Intergalactic Bastionland

The One Ring

Mothership

Diplomacy

Carin 2E

Stonetop

Snakes of Wrath

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Clayton's official statement on his ENNIEs nom.

The Awards Debrief 2025, an ENNIEs post-mortem.

On why I hate awards, or "Please vote for me at the Ennies", by Em Acosta.

Book club episode! Sean Foer, professional GM and maker of videos, joined me to go through people's responses about my discussions questions on Stonetop.

Show Notes:

Games mentioned: Secret of the Night Market, Perils & Princesses, Dictionary of Mu, Realis, Green Oaks by Roberto de Luca, Heart, Seven Part Pact, Book House / Nostos, The House Edge.

The excellent Blorb principles that outline that style of play

Jeremy Kerr's interactive map for Wildsea and guide

Also, check out our previous episodes about the Warden's Operations Manual for comparison and contrast.

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.

Union wins and hall of fame inductions headline a much more positive week for tabletop games. Chase and Thomas convene to discuss the major headlines, including some awards news out of Origins and United Wizards of the Coast officially electing the venerable company's first ever union. Later on, the pair saunter into the Question Dungeon's deadly political soiree to cross s(words) with half-year predictions and why the concept of dungeon crawling has such staying power in our imagination.

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we discuss:

Warhammer 40k

Magic: The Gathering Arena

Land of Eem

Apocalypse World

Berserkr

SPINE

Band of Blades

Diplomacy

Book club episode! We discuss Stonetop by Jeremy Strandberg. Read more here.

As always, you can participate in the talkback episode by sending in a response. You can record yourself speaking, you can post in the discord thread associated with this podcast or write to [email protected]. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think about Stonetop? What do you think about it as "a textbook for running games"?
2. As a GM, do you find yourselves having a preference for pre-existing settings, setting created at the table, an original setting created by the GM alone, or something else? Do you find yourself moving between these modes? Or just sticking to one? Do you have a particularly memorable experience with one of these modes?
3. Do you have a favorite question that you've asked as a GM or that you've been asked?
4. What's the best pitch you've ever seen from a game (that wasn't an IP or a sequel)? What about it got you excited enough to run it? Was it very different from your usual thing or in the same wheelhouse?
5. What game has made you feel most supported when it comes to improvising? How did it do that?

Show Notes:

• Types of GM Materials by Johnstone Metzger
• Quinns Quest review
• Interview with Jeremy Strandberg, Lucie Arnoux, and Jason Lutes on Rascal News

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.

UPDATE: Thomas spoke with Paizo CEO Jim Butler after we recorded this.

Industry news looms heavy over the discussion between Chase, Thomas, and Caelyn, but they find plenty of time for regularly scheduled shenanigans. The episode leads with Paizo's recent layoffs, how Diamond Comics Distribution caused it, and where the publisher goes from here. Afterward, they move on to RPG Trader and what this new, indie-focused storefront does differently from the major players. Stay tuned for an infiltration-themed Question Dungeon, Thomas' extremely satisfying week of games, and Chase's dalliance with duplicity.

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring Thomas Manuel (@newmadras.bsky.social) and Caelyn Ellis (@caelyn.bsky.social).

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we discuss:

SPINE

Asher's Ridge

Diplomacy

Apocalypse World

Band of Blades

Daggerheart

Neon Odyssey

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Book club episode! Andrew Gillis, designer of Girl by Moonlight, joined me to go through people's responses about my discussions questions on Burning Wheel.

Show Notes:

Games mentioned: D&D, Pathfinder, Fate, Blades in the Dark, Dogs in the Vineyards, Ironsworn, Realis, Apocalypse World, Gloomhaven, Frosthaven, Mythic Bastionland

My interview with Helena Real about Dungeon World 2

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.

Chase is joined on this episode (which is #37 despite what he says) by Jenna Stoeber and Tomas Franzese to discuss two overlapping issues between the tabletop and video game industries. First, the crew dive into Wizards of the Coast's response to unionization efforts within the Magic: The Gathering Arena team. Spoilers: it ain't friendly. Everyone then ponders the cancellation of an unnamed Dungeons & Dragons video game that was being developed by Giant Skull and why pinning all of Hasbro's digital hopes on Exodus and Warlock is... hm, well, ah. Nevertheless,

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Hosted by Chase Taylor-Carter (@chasecarter.bsky.social).

Featuring special guests Jenna Stoeber (@thejenna.bsky.social) and Tomas Franzese (@tomasfranzese.bsky.social).

Find Jenna's work on Patreon and Tomas' writing at Remastered.

Tomas' interview with Stig Asmussen from 2024.

Theme song by People Need Goals.

Cover art logo by Johan Nohr (@johannohr.bsky.social).

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Games we discuss:

Magic: The Gathering Arena

Warlock

Exodus

Rose and Locket

TetherGeist

Lego Batman

The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time

SPINE

Fatherfog 0e

Book club episode! We discuss Burning Wheel, the influential fantasy RPG from Luke Crane. Read more here.

As always, you can participate in the talkback episode by sending in a response. You can record yourself, you can post in the discord thread associated with this podcast or write to [email protected]. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think about Burning Wheel? 2. What's been your experience with games that ask players to write freeform statements like Beliefs in Burning Wheel or Aspects in Fate? Do you feel like you lose some of that freedom in games that just give you a list to pick from? 3. What do you think about the idea of system mastery as a GM? Does it feel different to run games that are about those versus games that don't offer that? Do you have different tastes as a player and as a GM when it comes to games that offer system mastery? 4. Do you agree with my statement that it feels like system mastery in the OSR or storygames is about mastering (specific, identifiable) skills that are broadly compatible across similar games? 5. What do you think about the classification of quests, struggles, and intrigues? Does that feel useful to you? Do you feel like you're better at some or prefer some over others?

The music used for this show is by Nihilore and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. The opening track is So Does Hope and the closing track is Something Beautiful Is Going To Happen.

For more from us, visit Rascal News.