Today, I humbly offer you joy and the bladesinger!

The bladesingers were elven warrior-wizards who swore to defend Elvenkind against all foes. They were tattooed dandies who danced into combat, and they were so cool that they have appeared in every edition of D&D since. Here, I speak with actress and DM Eliza Lambert about them! Link in the comments!

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In a solo episode, Ben reads aloud an essay from the 2nd edition Vampire: The Masqerade Player's Guide which asks us to consider: How is a TTRPG group like God?

We are taking a break from the podcast until the week after the week of November 15th. I have turned off the Patreon payments, so no one will be charged for October. Frankly, this podcast has been much more successful than I could have anticipated when we started. I cannot overstate how much we owe this community for its support in making that success possible. That said, we want to keep what you like and add more of what you love about the show. There will be some re-jiggering. If you have any strong opinions about what you like or what you don't, please feel free to email me at [email protected]

If you give your villians psychology, do they lose their mythic status? Scott & Ben examine that and the debate between narrative-ism and game-ism in the TTRPG space on today's show!

Gollum getting Sam those rabbits seems out of character somehow... Could there be something more behind it? I run a podcast, so I got Tolkien scholar John Rateliff and The One Ring game writer Gareth Hanrahan on the show to discuss! Buy The History of the Hobbit by John Rateliff here! As I write this, it is 50% off on Amazon!

Sign up to be notified of the launch of Trail of Cthulhu 2nd edition here!

Learn more about the Tolkien collection at Marquette University here!

It's digression all the way down on this one folks! Are you looking for the juiciest of juice and the hottest of tea? Well, Ben has released his Gen Con 2024 seminar, "The Battle for the Soul of D&D," which is the culmination of dozens of hours of interviews with former Wizards of the Coast employees, and may be a sort of rough draft of his next book. The things he's heard will shock you! But the only way to get it is to become a subscriber on Patreon. Patreon subscribers will be getting a special seminar once per month from Ben, access to our Discord, and the joy of knowing they are supporting journalism and history through their current dark age.

A reading of the spell Cure Blindness leads to the King James Bible, and a discussion of the most-controversial of D&D topics: the contributions of Gygax vs. Arneson in the creation of D&D. Are you looking for the juiciest of juice and the hottest of tea? Well, Ben has released his Gen Con 2024 seminar, "The Battle for the Soul of D&D," which is the culmination of dozens of hours of interviews with former Wizards of the Coast employees, and may be a sort of rough draft of his next book. The things he's heard will shock you! But the only way to get it is to become a subscriber on Patreon. Patreon subscribers will be getting a special seminar once per month from Ben, access to our Discord, and the joy of knowing they are supporting journalism and history through their current dark age.

Was Gygax a great game designer? Or was he merely in the right place at the right time to connect and publish world-shaking ideas? We discuss, along with the implications of "Continual Light" from that 1st Ed DMG.

Soon, we'll be releasing another of Ben's Gen Con seminars to Patrons. If you want that juicy historical goodness, join our Patreon here!

In this erudite and thoughtful episode, world-renowned anthropologist Dr. Thomas Malaby joins Scott & Ben to discuss the practice and history of the tabletop role-playing game. Fascinated by the ideas of Dr. Malaby? Get more of him on September 9th, when he teaches an online class at the Royal Anthropological Institute entitled, "Legitimacy through Contingency, or How to Do Things with Games. Click here to register to attend!

Does D&D succeed in translating the mythology of the vampire to the gaming table? Is the ritual of the tabletop role-playing game a rehearsal and practice for our own deaths? Today, we ponder these and other questions in our continuing discussion of combat as war vs. combat as sport with Harvard's own, Dr. Christopher Robichaud!

Pick up the Robichaud-edited Dungeons & Dragons & Philosophy here!

Get a primer on old school gaming by Matthew J. Finch here!

Next month, we'll be releasing another of Ben's Gen Con seminars to Patrons. If you want that juicy historical goodness, join our Patreon here!

This conversation goes places I'd never imagined it going.

Today, we discuss 1E vampires, whether combat is war or sport, Satanists at Harvard, and zombie pandemics with Dr. Christopher Robichaud, the senior lecturer in ethics and public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Dr. Robichaud's TED talk is here.

My interview with the Hickmans about Curse of Strahd is here.

Join us on Patreon! Hear Ben's seminar on 4th edition D&D from Gen Con 2023 with your Patreon subscription! We'll be releasing a seminar a month to our Patreon supporters.

Join our Patreon here!

If the Sentients Kickstarter sounded good, you can back it here!