Dead Letters

This week on Dead Letters the guys celebrate their birthdays (Happy Birthday guys) by talking about roleplaying games! This week it's Ennie nominated solo RPG SPINE by Asa Donald. Join the birthday boys as they discuss how they got possessed, player agency in journalling, mystery gaming, relics, and expressionist games! Dead Letters forum: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://deadletters.nyc/forum/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us o...

Sam summons east wind Spirits Misha and Walid to discuss highly influential philosopher and game scholar Bernard Suit's The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia. Can the trio agree on any definitions? Is cheating the most efficient way to play a game? How does one break Temple Run? None or all of these questions could be answered on todays episode of Dead Letters. Dead Letters forum: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https...

Epic oil painters Walid and Misha bring on art historian Sam to discuss a rather unusual RPG. This week the boys are uncovering the mysterious origins of Diana Harlan's "You've Gotta Have Bart". Dive in and learn more about Wintercon, goal setting, divergence, and the power of the dungeon vending machine. Dead Letters forum: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://deadletters.nyc/forum/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on bsk...

Mud ridden piggies Misha and Walid bring on human Sam into the pen to discuss roleplaying games. Today they're reading beloved storygame-RPG For the Queen by Alex Roberts. Join the porcine parcel as they examine best play practices, the fringes of role play, tight prompt designs, and the juicy modularity that this game provides. Dead Letters forum: ⁠⁠⁠https://deadletters.nyc/forum/⁠⁠⁠ Follow u...

Long time boy scouts Misha and Walid take a break from watching corn sweat to bring on Eagle Scout Sam and discuss a fan favorite adventure: Evey Lockhart's Wet Grandpa. Join the scouts as they discuss the value of exposition, motivating players to do cool stuff, and revealing the gradient between the mundane and mystical. Dead Letters forum: ⁠⁠⁠https://deadletters.nyc/forum/⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on b...

Sam summons magical Fae beings Misha and Walid to step away from their days of mischief and mayhem and discuss tabletop roleplaying games. Today they will be discussing Skerple's Magical Industrial Revolution. Join the fairies as they argue the logistics of city crawls and dungeons, discuss what kind prep work is acceptable, and end with a small pivot into postmodernism! Dead Letters forum: ⁠⁠...

Fire elementals Walid and Misha surface on earth during a devastating heatwave to give Sam and his AC a break. They're here to discuss Nordic scholar Markus Montola's Invisible Rules of Roleplaying. Join the toasty trio as they unpack roleplaying games, separate narratology vs ludology, define frame theory, and praise the power diegesis! Dead Letters forum: ⁠https://deadletters.nyc/forum/⁠...

Knights in shining armor Misha and Walid tag in squire Sam and embark on the epic adventure from Chance Dudinack: The Black Wyrm of Brandondsford. Listen to the guys breakdown the importance of maps in adventures, the topos - topography -topology connection, and the fragility of information ordering. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT : we have a website! Listeners, if you'd like to share your RPG takes wit...

Decorated historians Misha and Walid take a break from their respective research papers to bring on plebeian Sam and discuss a familiar topic: tabletop roleplaying games. Today they're examining the Ennie award winning TTRPG Mythic Bastionland by Chris McDowall. Tune in as the guys breakdown omens and myths, differentiate task and conflict resolution, and argue if this book is really just a st...

Long time communist Sam brings on two old school revolutionaries, Misha and Walid, to discuss the highly influential Turku School Manifesto (and some other supplementary readings) authored by Mike Pohjola. Listen to the theorists steelman RPG arguments from the 2000s, define roleplaying as "eläytyminen", and compare its application between RPGs and LARPs. We apologize for the audio hiccu...

Dog sled racers Misha and Walid hop off their championship crews and join Sam to continue discussing Arthurian myth and legend. Today, they're reading Greg Stafford's 1985 supplement The Great Pendragon Campaign. Join the guys as they breakdown pseudo history, the importance of source material, and the difference between contemporary and traditional Arthuriana. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Chess enthusiast Sam invites Grandmasters Walid and Misha to take a step away from the black and white checkered board and discuss the different types of knight moves in Greg Stafford's Pendragon. Join the guys as they break down Arthurian cannon, how they would run this system, and the issues with rules as meta-storytelling constraints. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/...

Sentient puppets Walid and Misha (ft. Misha's dog Bandit in the background sometimes) join terrified fan Sam to discuss Amanda Lee Franck's YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE. Join the horrified trio as they discuss the nuance of adventure writing, trash dimensions, and transforming your at home RPG game into a published book! Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/...

Former advisors to Richard Nixon, Walid and Misha bring in history enthusiast Sam for a very special 20th episode celebration of Dead Letters. Today, the guys discuss highly acclaimed action stealth video game: Thief Gold, developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. Listen to the guys transition their game design skills to video, argue definitions of immersion, and wager...

Witch/Demon hunters Walid and Misha bring on possible witch/demon Sam to discuss their vampire shenanigans in Thousand Year Old Vampire, a journaling RPG by Tim Hutchings. Join the guys as they discuss their favorite prompts, the nuances of solo gaming, and what it looks like to "break the rules". Side note, Walid got a new mic and it was not being good to him. Apologies for his choppy a...

Two sides of the same brain Misha and Walid bring single minded Sam to discuss Dan D's gothic horror adventure Unicorn Meat. Join the two (brains) as they discuss faction play, sandbox rhythm, and weird little murderous children. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Sam on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/sams...

Sam invites Legendary inventor Misha and Technologist Walid to discuss the freaky monsters and caves in Patrick Stuart's Veins of the Earth. Join the guys's descent into madness as they parse poetic descriptions, tackle "the sublime", and figure out what it means to move in a cave. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Join our medium Sam with two ghosts (again?!) Walid and Misha to discuss Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game by Magpie Games. Dig into the spirit's love of Avatar, what to expect from a licensed game, PBTA, and the ever important question: who's playing this? Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Sam on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Today on the #1 money management podcast Dead Letters, finance bros Walid, Sam, and Misha take a step back from their stock portfolios to discuss Jay Dragon's Expressionist Games Manifesto. Join the guys as they discuss expressionism, playing expressionist games, and being a menace at RPG tables. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/dead-letters.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Fol...

Dead Letters has returned! On this episode, time traveling RPG enthusiasts Walid and Misha argue with Sam about the beloved, massive, hexcrawl adventure Wolves Upon the Coast by Luke Gearing. Tune in as the guys discuss open world adventure games, GM legwork, and man-eating horses. By the end perhaps we will all have answers to the age old question: Why does the Medusa speak Latin? Follow us on bs...

Sam holds a seance with two spirits, Walid and Misha, to discuss the beloved combination of blogs, pdfs, excel documents, and communities that make up the GLOG: a ruleset by by Arnold Kemp. Join the guys as they recap the history of OSR revival, walkthrough version 1.0, and argue design philosophy. Stick to the end to hear about our favorite classes, and meet special guest Bill Toast. Follow us on...

Walid and Misha, two sentient insects controlling human bodies, bring on entomologist Sam to discuss the Ennie Award winning adventure by Leo Hunt: The Shrike. Join the bugs as they converse over dungeon design, mandatory cannibalism, "video-gamisms", and the problems with visualizing physical space. Editors Note: Misha's audio get's a little janky partly through this episode. Ap...

Sam brings on two of his favorite cyborg robots, Misha and Walid, to discuss an influential book to them and much of the TTRPG scene: John Harper's Blades in the Dark. Listen to the guys break down their experience Forging in the Dark, what this book provides, what its missing, and a brief stint into what really constitutes "fiction first" gameplay. Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https...

Dead Letters is back with a special episode! Sam and two famed astronauts Walid and Sam return from their mission on flat Mars to discuss Miguel Sicarts famous article Against Procedurality. Listen to the guys transform into video game designers for an episode, and discuss what the deal is with proceduralists, MDA, meaningful play, and how it all connects to RPGs! Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https...

We at Dead Letters are proud to present two Mega Billion lottery award winners Misha and Walid along with their poor "friend" Sam to discuss Luka Rejec's Holy Mountain Shaker, a caving adventure. Listen to the billionaires +1 discuss the pitfalls of point crawls, modularity on mountains, and the infamous bullet points vs paragraphs debate! Follow us on bsky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/...