Reading D&D Aloud

Kevin Kulp & Jeff Grubb have, between them, created entire cosmologies and entire timelines. Kulp is the award-winning creator of Timewatch and the investigative fantasy game, Swords of the Serpentine. Grubb, a legend in his own time, is the engineer of the Forgotten Realms, creator of Spelljammer, and writer of Manual of the Planes. Hear the pair discuss the secrets of creating new worlds with Be...

Shannon Appelcline is a TTRPG historian par excellence. His  Designers & Dragons  set a high bar for the field and I cannot recommend it too highly. HIs recent Traveller history,  This is Free Trader Beowulf, is similarly excellent. Today, we talk with Shannon about his time in the trenches of RPG history! Ben interviewed 2nd ed designer Zeb Cook in Hugh Hefner's suite at Gary Con and there's vide...

Ask a round of nerds what the first RPG was, and you'll likely get D&D as your answer. Some might shout out Blackmoor. A few may say Braunstein. But what if the answer was... something else? A long talk with the Thucydides of RPG history, Jon Peterson! Pick up the first volume of  Playing at the World 2nd Edition  here! Read Jon's article on  Western Gunfight  here! You can read Michael Korns's  M...

Mary Fan is a sci-fi stalwart, a prolific author whose novels include the Jane Colt series among many, many, others, and lifelong reader. She shares with us her favorite short story, which happens to be by Polish genius Stanislaw Lem, and of course we argue about Star Wars and Star Trek.  Ben interviewed 2nd ed designer Zeb Cook in Hugh Hefner's suite at Gary Con and there's video! You NEED to see...

You will not regret spending an hour listening to this conversation between 5th edition designer Mike Mearls and Shadowdark designer Kelsey Dionne. The pair are without question two of the most outstanding game designers working in TTRPGs today, and in this episode, they each give us a peek into their persons and processes. You can find Mike's Patreon here! And you can be a late backer of Kelsey's...

Lin Codega is the most important gaming journalist in the history of TTRPGs. They broke the OGL scandal wide open and changed the industry forever. In this hour-long conversation, Ben picks their brain about the state of things today, and where they are going next.  Find further delight in Lin's words at Rascal!   Ben interviewed 2nd ed designer Zeb Cook in Hugh Hefner's suite at Gary Con and ther...

The pulp fiction that influenced Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu was once considered disposable entertainment. But now it is taught in school! This week we pick the brain of Dr. Jason Ray Carney, a professor of English at Christopher Newport University who teaches weird fiction!  The next thing we're going to release on the Patreon feed is an interview with 2nd edition designer Zeb Cook fro...

Stu Horvath is an RPG historian you need to hear about. His book,  Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground  is enlightening, engaging, entertaining, and informative. Oh, and gorgeous! It is a romp through 50 plus years of iconic RPG products, from the obvious to the obscure. In this episode, we discuss Chaosium's  Theives' World . Pick up Stu's book here!   The next thing we're going to release...

Shadowdark  is the new hotness in the OSR community. Shadowdark is a cobra. Fast. Elegant. Deadly. Beautiful. I'm running Shadowdark because it is a game that demands to be played. The internet asks, is  Shadowdark  a D&D-slayer? In this hour-long seminar from Gary Con, Kelsey Dionne gives us a deep look into the workings of the game, her company, and most relevant to the question of Shadowdark  a...

Michael O'Brien is vice-president of Chaosium, the oldest extant RPG company, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year! In this interview, Ben & Michael go back to the dawn of fantasy RPGs, and talk about the brilliant minds that have made Chaosium home this past half-century.  Check out O'Brien's  Sun Country, which he described as "Spartans in the old west" here! Want to hear  Call of...

Cory Burns is at the forefront of D&D actualplays, because his incorporates audience participation! We chew the fat with Burns, creator of Adventures Improvised, which plays D&D in front of an audience using powerpoints and audience participation. He has his own RPG, Wanderverse , which will be kickstarting on March 25th. Playtest materials for the game can be found here! We discussed MIT's ion dr...

CthulhuTech smashes sci-fi anime with the work of Lovecraft to create something wholly new. In this episode we talk with the game's designer, Matt Grau about the game's creation, history, and his own time in video games. You can check out the CthulhuTech Kickstarter here! Want to hear  Call of Cthulhu  creator Sandy Petersen discuss game design with  Trail of Cthulhu  creator Ken Hite? Then you NE...

Pirate Borg designer Luke Stratton is a true polymath. Not only did he make the setting and the rules for his brutal, fast, and fun pirate RPG,  but he also did the art!  Additionally, he is a famous lighting designer who traveled the world lighting grunge gods, the Smashing Pumpkins! Want to hear  Call of Cthulhu  creator Sandy Petersen discuss game design with  Trail of Cthulhu  creator Ken Hite...

Ed Greenwood may be the most successful Canadian fantasist of all time. His work has been translated into novels, comic books, games, movies, and (hopefully) a Netflix TV series. Come and learn the secrets of world-building from the creator of the Forgotten Realms! Pry loose the arcane secrets of Ed by subscribing to his Patreon here! Are you intrigued by Reading D&D Aloud? Tempted? Get the full e...

Owen KC Stephens is the legendary game designer who co-designed the SAGA edition Star Wars RPG and Starfinder, but ask him if game designers are cool, and he'll tell you cool is for other people. We cover snake people, pirates, Cthulhu, and imposter syndrome on this week's episode of Reading D&D Aloud! Entertain your mind with Owen's visions by contributing to his Patreon here! Keep Owen in fine f...

Today, we continue our discussion about "Wish" in with 5E co-lead designer, Mike Mearls! And once that discussion is complete, I ask Mike a question that has fueled endless internet speculation since 2019: Why did Mike leave D&D? Did you know that in 1995, TSR sold $1 million of modules, but $1.2 million in Monstrous Compendiums? Become a Patreon subscriber and you too can learn fascinating facts...

Richard Dansky was one of the core voices during the golden age of White Wolf. In this episode, we discuss one of the most unusual parts of the most unusual game published by White Wolf in the 90s: the Shadow, a player at the table who played the voice of the devil in your head. Pickup Dansky's books  here! Ben has begun to digitize his D&D history archive. Every Wednesday, he will be releasing on...

Erin M. Evans wrote seven Forgotten Realms novels, and she joins us today to talk about what happened when she referenced sex in her novel,  The Adversary ... Pick up Erin's novel,  Empire of Exiles , here! Ben has begun to digitize his D&D history archive. Every Wednesday, he will be releasing one new digital document on the show's Patreon Discord. Last week, it was campaign setting sales per cat...

Behold the dark and deadly dungeons beneath the desert's sands! TSR alumna Sue Weinlein joins Ben Riggs to discuss the 2nd edition Al-Qadim supplement,  Cities of Bone .   

Billy Wardlow was executed in Texas on July 8th, 2020. He spent his last few weeks of life playing D&D. We only know about it because of the fantastic journalism of Keri Blakinger. Today, Ben Riggs and Dr. Aaron Trammell discuss her article, "The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row" with Keri herself. Read Keri's article here. Like what we do? Support the show on Patreon, and you'll get specia...

Sometimes, you catch lightning in a bottle. That is what happened in this conversation between 3rd ed designer Jonathan Tweet, 4th ed designer Rob Heinsoo, and controversial D&D historian Ben Riggs about the spell "Wish" in D&D." Like what we do? Support the show on Patreon, and you'll get special episodes, such as Ben Riggs reading the Dungeon Masters Guide  aloud with Dr. Scott Bruner! Hear Ben'...

Wish is a spell that is ridiculously powerful, ridiculously fun, and (perhaps) ridiculously broken! We're going to do a deep dive and look at the spell across editions. Helping us look at the spell in 2nd and 3rd edition D&D are designer Skip Williams and show stalwart, Eliza Lambert! Like what we do? Support the show on Patreon, and you'll get special episodes, such as Ben Riggs reading the  Dung...

Dungeon Crawl Classics designer Joseph Goodman set out to make a TTRPG that would recreate the wonders of fantasy and sci-fi literature as laid out by Gary Gygax in Appendix N of the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide . In Appendix N of the  Dungeon Crawl Classics , Goodman explains what he learned from Gygax's Appendix N, and how DCC is a response to it. Writer, editor, and icon of the industry James Low...

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!  If you want to support the show, join our Patr...

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 a...