Dead Letters

Sam invites Fields medal winning mathematicians Walid And Misha as they ponder the various machine mysteries in Gradient Descent, a Mothership adventure by Luke Gearing. Listen to the guys argue about panic checks, formatting decisions, how they would run Monarch, and what the best number is (it's 0). Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Sam...

Local magicians Misha and Walid bring Sam along a magical journey of discovery, as they review Thriftomancer's funky metasystem: Null. Discover the implications of system when it is removed from play, parsed between the guys arguing about definitions, what counts as a "lyric game", and the fraudulent nature of Harry Potter spells. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dea...

Today is a special day at Dead Letters as the guys return from the moon to analyze and review the iconic: Apocalpyse World. They'll discuss the makings of a great system, the power of modularity, and how Vincent and Meguey Baker's vision has evolved through PbtA. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Sam on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile...

Sam brings in his two uncles, Misha and Walid, to discuss the ENNIE Awards: the premier TTRPG award show. The guys do this through the lens of Clayton Notestine's series of blogposts discussing his personal experience as a judge for the awards. Join Sam and the Uncs as they argue about award shows being bogus (they are), and how they plan on capitalizing on making their own (which definitely w...

Today on Dead Letters, Sam and two dangerous musicians, Misha and Walid unravel the mystery in Zedeck Siew's "A Perfect Wife". Join the guys as they talk about the best parts of world building, anxious roleplaying, and mispronouncing the word "Pontianak". Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠ Follow Sam on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profi...

Today on Dead Letters, Misha, Sam and Walid talk about RPG rules as railroading through the lens of multiple award wining TTRPG book Triangle Agency. Discover what frame theory is, the problems with breaking the fourth wall, and why Sam thinks the color red is for normies. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠ Follow Sam on bsky: ⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/samsor...

What is a setting guide? What should a GM, or player, expect after buying one? Tune in as the guys discuss whether Eduardo Carabaño's Settlers of a Dead God meets their totally reasonable expectations of what should or shouldn't be included in a book like this. Follow us on bsky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠ Follow Sam on bsky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/samsorensen.b...

When is it time for your homebrew, epic, high fantasy, mega campaign to be published? Sam, Misha, and Walid - three tabletop roleplaying game designers and academics give their take on the question through the lens of Joshua McCrowell's "His Majesty the Worm" in this inaugural episode of Dead Letters. Listen in as we argue about rules vs procedures, OSR inspirations, and how this boo...