Welcome to another episode of Reckless A-Talk, our TTRPG interview show where we sit down with some of our favorite writers, players, GMs, and streamers to get to know a little bit more about what makes them who they are.

This week we got to interview TTRPG video essayist, reviewer, writer, and author Aaron Voigt.

Aaron is someone I had been up until now kind of tangentially appreciative of - his video essays and TTRPG reviews are some of my true favorites in the space. He brings so much of himself and his experiences to his work, and engages with games on both mechanical and emotional, thematic levels.

We talk about his new book and associated TTRPG Detente for the Ravenous, which I got the pleasure to read through some of before the interview and is available RIGHT now over on Aaron’s Itch page.

We also touched on keeping stories contained and painful, the impacts of reviewing indie games, when enough is enough, Pope Henry Kissinger releasing sin kaiju, exploring complex topics like real world history and religion in tabletop, and so much more.

As always if you enjoy this episode please go check out some of our other Reckless A-Talk interviews and maybe even our actual play episodes.

PLEASE go check it and all of Aaron’s great video essays, including a lot of familiar faces of Reckless A-Talk guests from the past.

Thanks for listening!

Website: https://aavoigt.com/

Itch.io page: https://aaronsxl.itch.io/

Detente for the Ravenous: https://aaronsxl.itch.io/dftr 

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChNydqier_ae-EfveCrGy7w 

Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/aavoigt.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.a.voigt/ 

Our Pantheon: https://dwoboyle.itch.io/our-pantheon

Gawrsh Quest: https://kidnick.itch.io/gawrsh

Related Third Wheel Mickey Mouse clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1-cL9NM6JY

Forest Focus App: https://www.forestapp.cc/ 

Pokemon Jr. Adventure Game: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1625/pokemon-jr-adventure-game-pokemon-emergency 

After the grueling fight with the creature from another realm, the Guilders take stock of where they are and what they now have.

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What? A superhero game in my D&D 5e Actual Play Podcast? That's right! This week is the first part of our play through of Anyone Can Wear the Mask, a superhero TTRPG created by Jeff Stormer.

ACWTM is a super fun and flavorful 1-3 player game, and Nathan, Steve, and I, Jonathan, had a fantastic time uncovering the story of John "The Jaunt" Strider and the people he strives to protect.

Future parts of this game will be released for our patrons, so join us at https://www.patreon.com/recklessattack for the thrilling conclusion!

Anyone Can Wear The Mask: https://jeffstormer.itch.io/mask

Trying to save Checkers from a life of servitude, the remaining Guilders put their skills to the test battling the entity that has, in a matter of minutes, reversed the decades-long stillness of the Waveless Lake.

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Hello listeners! Welcome to another episode of Reckless A-Talk, our TTRPG interview show where we sit down with some of our favorite writers, players, GMs, and streamers to get to know a little bit more about what makes them who they are.

I am as always your host GM Nathan, I use he/him pronouns, and this week I got to expand my mind and laugh a lot with renowned game designer Spencer Campbell of Gila RPGs!

That name is possibly familiar to longtime Reckless A-Talk listeners, as he and his games have been listed as a huge inspirations for several of our guests.

Spencer is a design whirlwind, and has put out several really diverse, unique, and award-winning games over the last few years. That includes the punchy LUMEN system and Creator Kit, HUNT a game about a doomed knightly order going on a final quest, the monster hunting game SLAYERS, and the solo souls-like game REAP.

Seriously, that’s just a portion of what he’s written, and SO MANY of them take really novel approaches with what is fun about games. Sometimes there’s no dice, no health, loot pools, approaches instead of skills, all kinds of really good stuff that we get to talk about in this episode.

Plus we talk a lot about the importance of connection in the TTRPG space, trying to protect your sanity online, his background in cognitive psychology and, as usual, tons more.

AS OF THIS EPISODE his latest game LOOT all about fantastical item gathering, combat, exploration and base building is crowdfunding. I am SUPER excited to see that full release, which we get into during this chat. Links to that and everything we talked about are in the show notes, as always.

If you enjoy this episode please go check out some of our other Reckless A-Talk interviews and maybe even our actual play episodes.

With that - I’ll see you next time! Enjoy.

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Edited by Nathan Lurz and Jonathan Zhang

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LINKS

• Itch page: https://gilarpgs.itch.io/ 
• LOOT Kickstarter (through Oct. 8): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thegilaboy/loot-1 
• Psychology of RPGs Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DWByROXqDI&list=PL-NjmcMHsu4kMOLGgsQKGw6Tr0GZqIxjX 
• Twitter: https://x.com/GilaRPGs 
• Mailing List: https://itch.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=66b8c28ad8db88f2d0022036b&id=317df5d8a1 

• Game Designer Will Jobst: https://x.com/will_jobst
• Game Designer John Harper (Blades in the Dark, Lasers & Feelings) https://johnharper.itch.io/

The creature responsible for the current non-waveless status of the Waveless Lake reveals itself and attacks the Guilders. But what does it want? And can it be stopped before all of them fall under the sway of the ancient creature?

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The Guilders find out about the Lake (formerly known as Waveless) and head to the island to find out what happened. Could it have something to do with the shrine to Saint Stillwater that is supposedly somewhere on the island?

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Under Checkers’ watchful eye, the children explore the island in the middle of the Waveless Lake while competing in a Grung-inspired competition and spooky cave exploration.

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The Guilders head to the formerly Waveless Lake where they encounter more than one denizen of the lake that has taken issue with the agitated sloshing of their home.

Reckless Attack colored dice by Carrie Lindstedt! Find their creator @catalysedconcepts on Instagram!

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Finally, a day off for our Guilders to just relax and not do anything too stressful.  Maybe a quick visit to see some old acquaintances?  Some nice meditation practice with fellow Guilders?  A quick trip to the Library to do some research?  I’m sure nothing life-changing could happen to multiple Guilders in just ONE episode, right?  Right?

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