The Lost Bay Podcast

This is the second episode of a two-part series on Liminal Horror and modern horror RPGs, featuring Goblin Archives and Josh Domanski, the co-designers of Liminal Horror. Episode two covers their modules and games, and particularly Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition which is crowdfunding right now. Listen to episode 1 Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/goblin-archives-josh-domanski-liminal-hor...

This is the first episode of a two-part series on Liminal Horror and modern horror RPGs, featuring Goblin Archives and Josh Domanski, the co-designers of Liminal Horror. Episode one is focused on Goblin and Josh’s origin story as RPG designers, and why horror is such a good genre for Tabletop RPGs. Episode two covers their modules and games, and particularly Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition which is...

Today The Lost Bay Podcast’s guest is Adam STATION. Adam is best known for designing modern horror RPGs, with a surreal twist. Their games and modules have two unique features. First they are heavily procedural, based mostly on tables and nested tables. Second they are inspired by modern and contemporary music, to the point some of them are actually partially sampled from song lyrics and titles. T...

This episode's guest is Jesse Ross, designer of Trophy Dark. Trophy Dark is a narrative game about doomed treasure hunters venturing into a forest that doesn't want them there. I'm a late discoverer of Trophy Dark; I read it just a few months ago, and it radically changed the way I see and play RPGs. The book delivers such a strong and consistent gameplay experience with a very simple mechanical a...

This episode's guest is Amanda Lee Franck, a really unique voice in the RPG scene. Amanda is both an illustrator and a game designer, and has blessed us with a series of iconic titles like Vampire Cruise, Crush Depth Apparition or You got a job on the garbage barge. In this episode, we will talk about Amanda's origin story and journey as a creator. We'll also chat about pens, inks, museums, why Sh...

Today, I'm taking you to Paris, France, to chat with Côme Martin, a prolific and uber-creative French designer. Côme's best-known titles include the iconic Meanwhile in the Subway, Broken Cities, Feathered Adventures, and many more. In this episode, we discuss Côme's journey as a designer, from the first one-pagers to his most innovative games, how the Norwegian indie scene influenced...

David Blandy is the designer of the post apocalyptic weird hope game Eco MOFOS!! The game is powered by the Into the odd/Cairn engine. Fast rules and character creation. Fantastic art by Daniel Locke. In this episode we talk about David's journey as a creator, and how his work as an artist informs game design. We also discuss Weirdhope, a unique genre of his own creation that teaches us that w...

The Parthenogenis of Hungry Hollow is an adventure module and campaing setting for the Mmodern horror tabletop RPG Liminal Horror. In this espisode with returning guest designer Goblin Archives we talk about bees, flesh, a weird baby shower, and an American Pacific Nothwest town being corrupted by an owerwhelmind deity and cult. The Parthenogenis of Hungry Hollow on Backerkit https://www.backerkit...

Yochai Gal is the designer of the forest fantasy RPG Cairn. Right now, Cairn second edition boxed set is live on Kickstarter. In this episode we talk about how Yochai grew the first edition of Cairn into this new expanded RPG marvel. Cairn Kickstarter ⁠https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1557907976/cairn-2e-boxed-set Yochai's first two appearances on The Lost Bay Podcast https://podcasts.appl...

Chris Mc Dowall is the designer of the rules light flavor heavy trifecta of games Into the Odd , Electric Bastionland and Mythic Bastionland . In this episode we talk about Chris' latest game Mythic Bastionland, its sources of inspiration, design process, and the spirit behind its ruleset. Bastionland blog & Patreon https://www.bastionland.com/ https://www.patreon.com/bastionland Mythic Ba...

Samantha Leigh is a multi-faceted tabletop RPG creator and has released some of the coolest solo games of the indie scene. She’s been recently kickstarting Outliers, an award-winning game inspired by her own experience as a lab researcher. In this episode we’ll talk about her sources of inspiration, editing secrets, and future projects. Outliers https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marx-of-high-wa...

Watt is the designer behind the Nausicaa inspired ecological space fantasy game Cloud Empress. After a successful launch in 2023 Cloud Empress returns to Kickstarter in 2024 with two new books/settings. In this episode we talk everything shop, from writing and layout strategies to game mechanics and their impact on the players and the gaming experience. Back Cloud Empress, Life and Death https://w...

Evangeline Gallagher is an illustrator with a taste for dark fantasy and horror. Their art is inspired by 80s and 90s media. Evangeline is one of the most productive and striking artists of the TTRPG scene and beyond. In this episode, we talk about their sources of inspiration, their practice, a mental directory of faces, and why red is their favorite color. Follow Evangeline Gallagher https://www...

watt is the designer of Cloud Empress, an ecological science fantasy tabletop RPG inspired by works like Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind, Dune, Full Metal Alchemist. Cloud Empress is both a hack and a campaign setting for the Sci-Fi horror TTRPG Mothership. The game has a striking universe both harsh and tender. In this episode we talk about the genesis and the design choices behind a game that...

Mörk Borg is a Swedish tabletop role-playing game by Pelle Nilsson & Johan Nohr with a strong pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy vibe. The fantasy setting features a dying world, where all is dark and gloomy, even the characters you play. The book itself has a unique visual style, wild and colorful reminiscent of the 80s Punk-Rock zine scene and of Doom Metal music. In this interview we talk abou...

Emiel Boven is the writer, illustrator and designer of the games DURF and The Electrum Archive . Emiel has stumbled across the tabletop indie scene only a couple of years ago, and since then he's been extremely productive: He wrote several adventures and modules, two games and contributed to build an international community of creators. He’s one of the designers you definitely want to keep two eye...

Liminal Horror is a modern horror tabletop RPG. It started a year and a half ago as a hack of the game Cairn, and since then its ecosystem has significantly grown. It has been published in print, counts two official modules, and is supported by a vibrant community. In this episode we'll talk about Goblin Archives' journey as a game designer, how to write horror, crowdfunding using itch.io, growing...

Today I have a very special episode for you, where for once I get to be interviewed. I’ve been a guest on the Weekly Scroll. It’s a super cool stream part of the Adventure Archive where Hunter and Ryan interview TTRPG designers, do reviews of indie games or unboxing of TTRPG Kickstarters. In this episode we'll be talking about SKYREALMS , a system neutral fantasy sourcebook and coloring book, illu...

Alfred Valley is the writer, designer and publisher of several TTRPGS characterized by unique setting and mechanics. In particular he wrote Lay on hands, a solo RPG in which you play as a healer in a post apocalyptic RPG, and Thousand Empty Light, a solo adventure for the Sci-Fi Horror RPG Mothership. In this episode we talk about the coziness of darkness, the art of haggling, cryptography and cas...

Ian Yusem is publisher editor and writer of Hull Breach, an anthology book, collection of adventures and articles for the Sci-Fi horror RPG Mothership. In this episode we talk about Ian's experience both as an author and as the editor/publisher of Hull Breach, the importance of layout, playtesting techniques, and how to write horror RPGs. Get Hull Breach here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/y...

This is the second episode of a three part mini series on TTRPG zines, the physical objects, we love, make, read and use to play role playing games. The first one is and interview with Leo from L.F. OSR , maker and publisher of limited editions of bespoke RPG zines.  If you play RPGs you're probably familiar with the concept. Community copies are free copies of RPG games or adventures, people...

Leo is very active in the RPG scene, particularly on the OSR side of it. He writes, makes art, he even just has released a dungeon synth album called Lost Fellow. But Leo also makes zines, like in crafting and publishing them, with his printing shop/publishing house called L.F. OSR. Their publications are quite unique in the scene, one hundred percent handmade, bespoke and special editions of indi...

Today what I have for you is a very short episode, I’m working on several episodes of a mini-series that require intense editing. This is why I don’t have the usual interview to offer this week. But I didn’t want to let you with no content at all, so I’m going to give you a short tour of what is going to come in the next three episodes. We'll be talking about zines, as objects, as paper objects. A...

Paolo Greco is the writer and designer behind the RPG press Lost Pages. They have recently successfully finished the Kickstarter campaign for The Book of Gaub, a game neutral spell book, and anthology of horror micro fictions. In this episode we talk about magic, real magic, studying it, understanding it, and how it can help writing better RPG magic, a kid fascinated by the occult, and a lost and...

Zedeck Siew is the writer an co-author of the zine series A thousand thousand islands . These TTRPG fantasy game neutral zines are inspired by South Asia.  In these episode we talk about being nerds, South Est Asia, writing as a craft, running a Kickstarter, cockroaches and The reach of the roac h god, the first A thousand thousand islands campaign book. The book is being kickstartered until...