Dice Exploder

Sam Dunnewold
  • 5.0 (18)
  • DESIGN
Dice Exploder

A show about tabletop RPG design. Each episode we bring you a single mechanic and break it down as deep as we possibly can. Co-hosted by Sam Dunnewold and a rotating roster of designers. diceexploder.com

  1. 4D AGO

    Beats (Heart: the City Beneath) with Aaron Voigt

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Last week, indie rpg YouTube essayist Aaron Voigt and I delved into Heart: the City Beneath, a surreal and maximalist dungeon crawler with lots to love. But when I ran the game, I had some trouble with it from a mechanic that by all accounts I should love: beats, little nuggets of story, little goals your character takes on that they advance by achieving. I’ve always found it strange I didn’t love beats in practice, and I today I wanted to break down how and why they left me overwhelmed and unsatisfied. I think there’s at least as much to learn from looking at what doesn’t work in games as what does, especially in games and other art that feels so close to exactly for you… Further Reading Heart: the City Beneath by Rowan, Rook and Decard Spire: the City Must Fall by Rowan, Rook and Decard Socials Aaron on Bluesky, itch, YouTube, and Patreon Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Support Dice Exploder on Patreon!

    34 min

  2. APR 8

    Zenith Abilities (Heart: the City Beneath) with Aaron Voigt

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Heart: the City Beneath. It’s a surreal and bloody dungeon crawler full of so much to love… plus some bits that drive me up the wall. This week and next I’m devoting TWO episodes to it. Today, it’s everything I love about Heart as seen through the lens of zenith abilities: epic things that let players take control of the game and do something gigantic and f*****g cool… before killing their character. I’m joined by ardent Heart-lover Aaron Voigt, aka the guy who makes the indie rpg video essays on YouTube. We get into Heart’s spectacular setting, the act of handing story agency over to players, and the joys of playing to lose. Then come back next week for part two with more Heart and more Aaron! Ads Rust Never Sleeps, a solo blackjack mecha rpg Further Reading Heart: the City Beneath by Rowan, Rook and Decard Spire: the City Must Fall by Rowan, Rook and Decard Sanfielle by Friends At The Table Agon 2e by Sean Nittner and John Harper Socials Aaron on Bluesky, itch, YouTube, and Patreon Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Support Dice Exploder on Patreon!

    37 min

  3. APR 1 · BONUS

    Elf Motors with Chris Duffy

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Over on the Dice Exploder discord, we welcome new members by asking them what their favorite mechanic is. It’s a great tradition, kicks off a lot of great conversations, but I have largely avoided having it turned my way. So today I thought let’s just get it out there in an episode: what is my favorite mechanic and what do I think about it? Further Reading Elf Motors Socials Chris’s podcast How to Be a Better Human Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    9 min

  4. MAR 25

    Fateplay Scenes (House of Craving) with Sharang Biswas

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Last week was a show about how it might work to frame a scene when you get to decide whatever you want that scene to look like. But this week, we're looking at the reverse: what happens when you're given a very detailed scene and must figure out how to incorporate it into your story? This episode brings together a bunch of threads I’ve been building up throughout this larp series: immersion, the separation or lack thereof between player and character, safer play, and more. I couldn't ask for a better cohost for that than Sharang Biswas. Ads ⁠⁠⁠Extra Ordinary on Kickstarter now!⁠⁠⁠ Preorder Sharang’s book The Iron Below Remembers Further Reading House of Craving by Tor Kjetil Edland, Danny Wilson & Bjarke Pedersen Lumberjills by Moyra Turkington I Say A Little Prayer by Tor Kjetil Edland Just a Little Lovin’ by Tor Kjetil Edland and Hanne Grasmo Uncertainty in Games by Greg Costikyan Rules of Play by Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman  The Self Reflexive Tabletop Role Playing Game by Evan Torner  The World is Born from Zero by Cameron Kunzelman Socials Sharang on Bluesky and itch Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    51 min

  5. MAR 18

    Spotlight Scenes with Moyra Turkington

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com When you’re playing roleplay-heavy D&D, what does a scene look like? Since the game doesn’t give you much in the way of tools for doing so, are you framing scenes intentionally or just kind of letting them happen? And if the latter, is that serving you well? You very well might be, but I’ve become obsessed lately with how we frame scenes in roleplaying games, and today I want to talk about a mechanic that does so very firmly: spotlight scenes, a procedure in which  each player in the game gets a turn to say what they want the next scene to be. To do that, I’m joined by Mo Turkington, designer of many great structured freeform larps including the well-lauded Rosenstrasse and her latest release Lumberjills. We get into the history of spotlight scenes, the pros and cons of including rules for framing and ending scenes in your game, and how even a mechanic like this one that feels so structural and procedural, when used int he right context, can have a beautiful, thematically resonant message in it about agency and self-actualization. Ad Links Song of the Scryptwyrm by Almost Bedtime Theater Further Reading Lumberjills by Moyra Turkington I Say A Little Prayer by Tor Kjetil Edland Just a Little Lovin’ by Tor Kjetil Edland and Hanne Grasmo Rosenstrasse by Moyra Turkington and Jessica Hammer Montsegur 1244 by Frederik J. Jensen Red Carnations on a Black Grave by Catherine Ramen and Juan Ochoa Socials Moyra’s games on itch Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    52 min

  6. MAR 11

    Shadows with Elin Dalstål

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Shadows are a metatechnique in larp where you have players in the role of something other than a traditional larp or rpg player character. Maybe they’re stagehands turning out the lights because there’s ghosts in this house. Maybe they’re the characters’ worst fears who wander around and whisper into players’ ears to egg them on into terrible actions and choices. They’re special effects, or ghosts, or whatever else you want them to be. Let's talk about them! Ad Links ⁠⁠Extra Ordinary on Kickstarter now!⁠⁠ Socials Elin on Bluesky Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    38 min

  7. MAR 4

    Workshops with Marc Majcher

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com There's this period of time between when we've all agreed we're going to play a game now and when we start "actually playing." We've got to learn the rules, learn the setting, maybe go over safety or characters. Maybe we order the pizza in here, too. This part of a game is just as much something that can be intentionally designed as gameplay itself, but I don't see much of that in ttrpgs. Meanwhile in larp, workshops to set up a game are standard practice. What do they look like, and what can we learn from them? Ad Links Extra Ordinary launches on Kickstarter March 10th! Further Reading The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker Bleed on the Nordic Larp wiki Playing to Lift, Not Just to Lose by Susanne Vejdemo The Battle of Primrose Park: Playing for Emancipatory Bleed in Fortune & Felicity by Jonaya Kemper Space Train Space Heist by Sam Dunnewold Veins of Corruption, Marc's itchfunding mega-zungeon Socials Marc on Bluesky and itch and actual plays on youtube Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show Support ⁠Dice Exploder on Patreon⁠!

    48 min

  8. MAR 3 · BONUS

    Dice Exploder is on Patreon, plus Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com The show is on Patreon! There's not going to be a lot behind the paywall, but there is right now a pilot episode for a new podcast that's part play report, part games criticism, and part personal memoir. This pilot is about the excellent game Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, and you can listen to it now on the brand new Dice Exploder patreon. https://www.patreon.com/DiceExploder

    5 min
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Trailer

5
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

A show about tabletop RPG design. Each episode we bring you a single mechanic and break it down as deep as we possibly can. Co-hosted by Sam Dunnewold and a rotating roster of designers. diceexploder.com

Information

  • Creator
    Sam Dunnewold
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    69
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Sam Dunnewold
  • Show Website
    Dice Exploder

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