Dieku Podcast

Silverarm Press was started in 2021 by Joel Hines as a small press to publish old school influenced RPG material. Silverarm has a focus on producing books that are primarily easy to use at the table, modular and open world, and deeply creative with a high level of conceptual density. After Desert World of Karth, a critically acclaimed sandbox module for Mothership, Silverarm will soon launch Tide...

Singing Flame is a small publishing company based in New York City who love making zines, adventures, and supplements compatible with tabletop roleplaying games, including titles such as DNGN, Aquilus, Night Land, and Xanadu.  Vasili Kaliman shared his journey into the gaming hobby, and his return to it with DCC. From there he went on to create Aquilus, the science fantasy publication for the...

I welcome Jason Oberman, the creator of 6083, a military sci-fi game that has been 38 years in the making, and is now available on print on demand through DriveThruRPG.   Jason is a retired career soldier whose military journey has leaked into the game’s DNA, resulting in a TTRPG experience with influence from real-life military culture.  6083 is an original TTRPG with a unique ruleset,...

2022 was another interesting year in the TTRPG Industry, and we once again were joined by Shannon Appelcline, author of the "Designers & Dragons" series, to provide historical context to the events of the year.   Shannon also shared his insights on a variety of current topics including the OneDnD, DriveThruRPG, VTTs, OSR, Indie Games, Kickstarter, Free League licensing, AI being used in g...

Garry Snow was joined by Logar the Barbarian from Wobblies Wizards as they both share their letters asking Krampus for games they want this holiday season, as well as a list of their top games from 2022!  We are inviting viewers to provide superchats with all proceeds going towards two charities - Schools for Chiapas and Doctors Without Borders, with matching donations up to the total amount...

Jesse Schell is the author of the critically acclaimed book "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses," published in 2008. The book captured Game Developer Magazine's coveted "Front Line Award" in 2008. In 2014, he released the second edition of this book. In 2019 the tenth anniversary and third edition of the book was released.   Jesse is also the founder and CEO of Schell Games. Since start...

In the summer of 1973, as Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax worked to complete the manuscript for D&D, Greg Svenson was given a play-test copy of that novel new game. He used those rules to create his own adventure dungeon. Tonisborg is the second oldest Mega Dungeon to come out of the Twin Cities group. Svenson and Arneson placed the dungeon in the world of Blackmoor, where Vestfold  is locate...

What better way to celebrate October than by exploring the amazing creativity of indie zines! We will be doing daily zine reviews throughout the month, ending with a grand prize draw for $200 store credit from Exalted Funeral, where you can purchase many of the zines being reviewed!  To enter the draw, sign-up for our newsletter on our web site: https://diekugames.com  On Halloween day,...

I was joined by Steve Jackson who has had a distinguished career, designing iconic games such as GURPS, Car Wars, The Fantasy Trip, and last, but not least - Munchkin!  Steve shared his journey from his first entry into the hobby, to lessons learned along the way, and the sharing of new games such as the re-releases of Car Wars and The Fantasy Trip.  To learn more about Steve Jackson Gam...

I had the pleasure of being joined by Lee Gold, the creator of the Lands of Adventure RPG, Land of the Rising Sun supplement for Chivalry & Sorcery, Vikings for Iron Crown, GURPS Japan and the Valhalla Trilogy novels.  Lee is also the editor of Alarums and Excursions one of the longest running APAs (Amateur Press Association) featuring content from fan zines since 1975!   Alarums and...

I was joined by Cezar Capacle, the designer of minimalist games such as Starlight Riders, What Lies Beneath the Darkness, Kismet and Cows vs Zombies.  Cezar also shared the fundamentals of the Push SRD which is Creative Commons and able to be used as a basis for your own game.   Learn more at: https://www.patreon.com/capacle https://capacle.itch.io https://twitter.com/capacle https://ko-...

We were joined by Andrew Kolb, who shared his design process for the new Oz TTRPG setting.  This is Andrew's follow up to the the Ennie Award nominated Neverland TTRPG. Using inspiration from Frank Baum's novels, Andrew combined his mid-century styled illustrations with solid layout and typography to create a cohesive setting book that is compatible with almost all flavors of Dungeons and Dra...

I was joined by Doctor Emily Zarka the writer and host of Monstrum - an award-winning series featured on PBS's Storied YouTube channel.  Monstrum examines the complex histories and motivations behind some of the world's most famous monsters, and has featured many that would be familiar to D&D players such as the Basilisk and Trolls.   For more information on Monstrum: https://www.youtube.com/pbsst...

I had the pleasure of having Logar the Barbarian as my guest, who is the host of Wobblies and Wizards, the daily (yes, DAILY!) podcast that features Indie Game Designers who have that scrappy DYI attitude.   We discuss Logar's history and process of making his podcast, from one podcaster to another!   You can learn more about Logar and Wobblies and Wizards at:  https://anchor.fm/wob...

I was honored to be joined by Marc Miller, the creator of Traveller - the best selling sci-fi RPG of all time! I discuss the many innovations that Traveller brought to the TTRPG design world including, life paths during character creation, skills, patrons, UPP code, and the game-within-a-game ship and world building.   Far Future Enterprises: https://www.farfuture.net Agent of the Imperium ht...

I was joined by Daniel Sell the Ennie award winning creator and Publisher of Melsonian Arts Council, who make Troika!, the OSR style game that combines unique characters into an unusual setting that has grown a strong community around it. Daniel shares his journey into publishing, and provides some great insight on what it takes to be a successful indie TTRPG publisher.   To learn more about...

We had the pleasure of having Lysa Penrose - RPG Marketing and Charity Manager, and Kage - Community Relations Representative from DriveThruRPG join us.  We discussed the upcoming PocketQuest game jam taking place in August, as well as tips and tricks for new creators taking their first steps into publishing.    We also learned about the recent announcement of the partnership betwee...

It was a pleasure to have Nate Treme of Highland Paranormal Society on the show to discuss his design process and the many unique games that he has made over the years, such as Tunnel Goons, Kozmik Objects, and adventures like What Child is This, Barrow of the Elf King and Dogtooth Valley.  Learn more about Highland Paranormal Society: https://highlandparanormalsociety.com https://natetreme.i...

We were joined by Adam Vass of World Cha,mp Games Co. who has been making some very unique and creative games within the Indie game design scene. Games such as Necronautilus, Babes in the Wood, Cobwebs, Hell Cabin, and more!  You can learn more at: https://www.worldchamp.io https://worldchampgameco.itch.io https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10896/World-Champ-Game-Co https://www.patreon.c...

We were joined by Deborah from Geek Gamers, who shared their history and evolution of the Solo Game Master's Guide and YouTube channel.   For more information:  https://www.youtube.com/GeekGamers01  https://www.modiphius.net/products/solo-game-masters-guide

We were joined by Jim Parkin, the designer of Weird North and Any Planet is Earth, who shared his views on Free Kriegsspiel Revolution (FKR) style gaming to create an immersive role playing experience.  To learn more:  https://d66kobolds.blogspot.com https://classless-kobolds.itch.io https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/17280/Classless-Kobolds  FKR Discord Server:  https://d...

We were joined by Lex Mandrake of Dank Dungeons, who shared his game design journey with us, starting with 5e supplements on the Joy of Cooking Monsters, to the very popular OSR Azag game and setting. Lex also provides some of his realizations on and learnings with each new product, including the Narfell supplement which is entirely digital focussed. To Learn More: https://lfosr.com/product/azag-s...

We were joined by Eric Nieudan, who along with Olivier Revenu, makes up The Merry Mushmen, who have created the go-to OSR magazine - Knock. We learn of the history behind how this magazine came into existence, and what the future looks like for this publication. For more information:  https://www.themerrymushmen.com  https://www.twitter.com/TMushmen https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/a...

We were joined by Bryce Lynch, who run's the Ten Foot Pole blog which is the de facto Dungeons and Dragons adventure review site. Bryce shares his list of tips and tricks that every aspiring adventure designer should know before setting out to write! Bryce also shares the background to the 4-year Review of Dungeon Magazine adventures, and the Wavestone Keep adventure design contest that has been r...

We were joined by Chris McDowall, the designer of the Ennie nominated Electric Bastionland, which was built upon the rule-set and concepts first used in Into the Odd. Chris shares his process in developing these two foundational games, and what he looks for in both game systems and settings.  You can learn more about Chris' work at: https://www.bastionland.com https://www.patreon.com/bastionl...