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!

"Animate Dead: It is, of course, possible to animate the skeletons or corpses of demi-human and humanoid, as well as human, sort."  -pg. 41 of the 1st edition Advanced Dungeon Masters Guide. Is that the worst sentence in the book? It is confusing, ill-constructed, and hideous to the ear. Or is it merely the worst sentence so far? Scott and Ben discuss!

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!

Scott & Ben continue their exploration of spells as described in the DMG, and discover more examples of spells with contradictory instructions in the two AD&D corebooks!

We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best. 

Regrettably, sources are confirming what we all fear: that Hasbro's digital future will leave little room for Dungeons & Dragons as we know it. Ben & Scott discuss.  We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best. 

Last week, the empty position of CEO at Wizards of the Coast was filled. But does it really matter at all when Chris Cocks, the gentleman who thought ending the OGL was a good idea is still running Hasbro? Ben and Scott discuss, and also talk over the spell light from both the 1st edition PHB and DMG.  We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best. 

Today, we take time to talk to the third voice of our show, Madeleine Craig! Madeleine is an actress and long-time DM who got her start with 5th edition.

We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best. 

Given the racist tropes baked into the fantasy genre, how does the institution of D&D move forward into a brighter, better future? Are there also questions of stories for children versus stories for adults to be weighed? And all that is bookended by a discussion on spells in AD&D 1st edition.  

We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best. 

Image by Mike Pape, and courtesy Wizards of the Coast. 

We read aloud "Tribal Spellcasting" from the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide, and reflect on how it codifies racist stereotypes into the game. We also read sections from "Hack the Orcs, Loot the Tomb, and Take the Land" by Daniel Heath Justice, which you can and should read here.  

We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best.