Podcasts about Meguey Baker

You can support this show on Patreon⁠⁠! On this episode, I'm joined by Meguey Baker. She's the designer of PsiRun and 1001 Nights, published under her label, Night Sky Games. She's also the co-designer of Apocalypse World, which started the fundamental Powered by the Apocalypse design movement. She wrote the influential Fair Games blog with Emily Care Boss for many years. She's a textile conservation specialist who works with museums, a quilter, a trained sex ed teacher, and a breast cancer survivor. Meguey and Vincent Baker's patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lumpley  Blog: https://lumpley.games  Itch store: https://lumpley.itch.io/  Show Notes: Children's Books Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran and Barbara Cooney (read aloud) Dragon Scales and Willow Leaves by Terry L Givens (read aloud) A Hole Is To Dig by Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak (read aloud) Once Upon A Pirate Ship by Mircea Vasiliu Games The Old, The Cold and the Bold by Whitney Delaglio / Little Wish Productions If you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Meguey Baker, Vincent Baker An introduction to PbtA from a designer's point of view. How and why Apocalypse World works the way it does, what your game can take from it, and how and why your own game should work differently. Highlighting PbtA's conversation model, with an emphasis on consent and communication, and PbtA's model of fiction, with an emphasis on adapting it to your own game's needs.

Transcripts are available at diceexploder.com People talk a lot about how and whether RPGs emulate TV and movies, but this week cohost Meguey Baker (Apocalypse World, Under Hollow Hills) brings in a game that takes that sentiment to a compelling meta level. Fan Mail, from Primetime Adventures by Matt Wilson, is the core of the game's key metaphor: that players are simultaneously writers of a TV show, fans watching that show, and the characters portrayed on screen. We talk about the storygame scene in the early 2000s, how Primetime Adventures has influenced Meg's work, and how different this mechanic can feel in a one shot vs a full campaign. This game feels like a classic. I wish I'd known about it ten years ago. Further Reading: Primetime Adventures by Matt Wilson The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall Inspecters by Jared Sorensen A Thousand and One Nights by Meguey Baker Ritual in Game Design by Meguey Baker Meguey & Vincent's new game Under Hollow Hills Socials Meg on Twitter and Bluesky. The Baker family blog and games. Sam on Bluesky and itch. The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker We've been creating and publishing our own games for almost 25 years. How, why, and what does it take? Why self-publish instead of shopping your work around? How do you plot your own course, build your own audience, and measure your own success? This is about being you, the designer, making your games, owning the fruits of your labor, and keeping both your drive and your passion while holding down your day job and maintaining your relationships.

⁠⁠Max Lander⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aaron King⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. It's Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands by Meguey Baker & D. Vincent Baker. Returning guest Essay joins us to discuss a game that has been pitched to Max as exactly what he wants. But is it?! If you want to chat about the episode, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠join our Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. And ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠check us out on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for extra episodes!

On this episode, Hunter and Ryan read and review

Ora che il Castello si trova privo di un Reggente, i poteri occulti di tutta Europa si stanno muovendo per cercare di fare propria la potenza del Castello e dominare il continente intero e, perché no, anche tutto il mondo. Cosa saranno disposte a fare le persone di spicco di queste fazioni pur di ottenere il sangue celato nell'oscurità?In questo speciale giochiamo nel mondo di Rhapsody of Blood, ma lo facciamo con Il Re è Morto, gioco scritto da Vincent e Meguey Baker ed edito in italiano da Grumpy Bearhttps://grumpybearstuff.com/giochi/il-re-e-morto-bundle-set/Questo show fa parte del network Spreaker Prime. Se sei interessato a fare pubblicità in questo podcast, contattaci su https://www.spreaker.com/show/1693919/advertisement

Ora che il Castello si trova privo di un Reggente, i poteri occulti di tutta Europa si stanno muovendo per cercare di fare propria la potenza del Castello e dominare il continente intero e, perché no, anche tutto il mondo. Cosa saranno disposte a fare le persone di spicco di queste fazioni pur di ottenere il sangue celato nell'oscurità?In questo speciale giochiamo nel mondo di Rhapsody of Blood, ma lo facciamo con Il Re è Morto, gioco scritto da Vincent e Meguey Baker ed edito in italiano da Grumpy Bearhttps://grumpybearstuff.com/giochi/il-re-e-morto-bundle-set/Questo show fa parte del network Spreaker Prime. Se sei interessato a fare pubblicità in questo podcast, contattaci su https://www.spreaker.com/show/1693919/advertisement

This week, Morrus, Peter, and Jessica talk about pay rates for writers in the RPG industry. In the news, free Baldur's Gate Gazetteer from D&D Beyond, Matthew Lillard launches D&D-themed bourbon, details released for Assassin's Creed RPG from CMON, and more! Plus a brand new sketch about what makes an appropriate battlecry. -------------------- News Baldur's Gate Gazetteer Free on D&D Beyond https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-beyond-offers-a-free-baldurs-gate-gazetteer.699423/ Matthew Lillard launches D&D-themed bourbon https://www.enworld.org/threads/beadle-grimms-matthew-lillard-launches-d-d-themed-bourbon.699454/ The Merry Mushmen https://www.themerrymushmen.com Sneak Peak of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk https://www.enworld.org/threads/sneak-peak-of-phandelver-and-below-the-shattered-obelisk.699396/ Beth Rimmels reviews The Practically complete Guide to Dragons https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-practically-complete-guide-to-dragons-review.699385/ Assassin's Creed TTRPG https://www.enworld.org/threads/cmon-releases-details-on-assassins-creed-ttrpg.699453/ Witcher RPG hiatus https://www.enworld.org/threads/r-talsorian-updates-on-cyberpunk-red-the-witcher-and-a-new-secret-project.699452/ Play Renegade public event promotional program https://www.enworld.org/threads/renegade-game-studios-announces-new-public-event-support-program.699458/ Meal Train fundraiser for Meguey Baker and family https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/lk908w/ SOE Sourcebook from Russell Phillips Kickstarter pre-launch page https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/russellphillips/soe-sourcebook The Codex of Worlds for Monster of the Week from Evil Hat https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-codex-of-worlds-sourcebook-released-for-evil-hats-monster-of-the-week.699459/ Puzzling Encounters for 5e from EN Publishing on Kickstarter now https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/puzzling-encounters EN Publishing August 2023 Update https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIzqxPwHk0E&t=613s Munchkin Paranoia https://www.enworld.org/threads/steve-jackson-games-announces-munchkin-paranoia.699457/ -------------------- RPG Freelance Rates What Are The Current Freelance Writing Rates in the TTRPG Industry? https://www.enworld.org/threads/what-are-the-current-freelance-writing-rates-in-the-ttrpg-industry.699085/ 2015 article “What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?” https://www.enworld.org/threads/whats-a-freelance-rpg-writer-worth.662811/ -------------------- Please support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/morrus Don't forget to join the Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1033145023517295/ and join us on Discord at https://discord.gg/VAuxX8M Ask your Listener Question on Twitter, email morruspodcast@gmail.com, or contact us on TikTok at TikTok -------------------- Hosts: Russ “Morrus” Morrissey, Peter Coffey, and Jessica Hancock Editing and post-production: Darryl Mott Theme Song: Steve Arnott Malach the Maleficent played by Darren Morrissey Check out all the media content from EN World at http://enliverpg.com

Daniele Di Rubbo e Lorenzo Bertini parlano di accordi di gioco, di dichiarazioni di intenti, e di strumenti e tecniche di sicurezza da usare mentre si gioca di ruolo, con particolare riferimento a esperienze concrete di gioco. Link utili “Dietro lo Schermo” (blog di Lorenzo); “Lines and Veils and more” (seminario di Ron Edwards); “Safe Spaces” (intervista a Ron Edwards sul podcast Games and Education); Stonewall 1969 (gioco di Stefano Burchi); “Speciale: D&D al femminile”; I GDR e la dichiarazione di intenti; Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax e la creazione di Dungeons & Dragons (romanzo a fumetti); World of Darkness (documentario); “Gli esempi del Locandiere: Dichiarazione di Intenti” (Locanda del Drago Rosso); Guerre Stellari: Il gioco di ruolo; “Scrivere scenari per giocare story now”; Vampiri: La Masquerade, 5ª edizione; Mörk Borg; “Quest for the Murder Sword”; La mia vita col padrone; Polaris; “More Alphabet Soup” (articolo di Meguey Baker); Little Katy's Tea Party; Deathwatch; X-Card; Script Change RPG Toolbox; TTRPG Safety Toolkit; “Ruling the Game” (gruppo Telegram); La Locanda (forum); Eclectica GDR; The Angry GM; True Detective, 2ª stagione. Crediti Voci: Daniele Di Rubbo, Lorenzo Bertini, Osiride Luca Cascioli. Editing audio e grafica: Daniele Di Rubbo. Contatti E-mail: info@geeckoontheair.eu. Patreon: patreon.com/geeckoontheair.

Episode Notes In Dreaming Avalon is a game by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker and may be found here. Twitter | Ko-Fi | Discord Intro and Outro Music by Bryan Find out more at https://hopeshearth.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Thanks to Joe Richter of Hindsightless, Jason Connerley of Nerd's RPG Variety Cast and Colin Green of Spikepit for your calls. Apocalypse World by D. Vincent & Meguey Baker http://www.apocalypse-world.com Index Card RPG (ICRPG) by Runehammer https://www.modiphius.net/pages/runehammer Medieval Fantasy Campaign & TURN by Marcia B https://traversefantasy.itch.io Errant by Kill Jester https://www.killjester.com/errant Lost Eons and Eco Mofos!! by David Blandy https://davidblandy.itch.io and the Eco Mofos!! jam https://itch.io/jam/eco-mofos-jam Mail Order Apocalypse by Christian Buggedei https://moa.orkpiraten.de The Spine of Night (2021) Dir. Philip Gelatt & Morgan Galen King Knave Second Edition by Ben Milton https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/questingbeast/knave-rpg-second-edition Dying Earth for Dungeon Crawl Classic from Goodman Games https://goodman-games.com/store/product-category/dcc-setting-dying-earth/ Music by Timothy J. Drennon "Warning" by Lieren of Updates From the Middle of Nowhere Leave me an audio message via ⁠https://anchor.fm/free-thrall⁠ or ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/KeepOffTheBorderlands⁠ You can email me at ⁠spencer.freethrall@gmail.com⁠ Find me here ⁠https://twitter.com/FreeThrall⁠, here ⁠https://www.facebook.com/FreeThrall/⁠ and here ⁠https://freethrall.carrd.co⁠ Check out what else I might be up to here ⁠https://free-thrall.itch.io/⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/free-thrall/message

Episode Notes In Dreaming Avalon is a game by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker and may be found here. Sound effects obtained from ZapSplat Twitter | Ko-Fi | Discord Intro and Outro Music by Bryan Find out more at https://hopeshearth.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Thanks to Joe Richter of Hindsightless and Colin Green of Spikepit for your calls Apocalypse World by D. Vincent & Meguey Baker http://www.apocalypse-world.com The Good Friends of Jackson Elias https://blasphemoustomes.com/2023/04/25/son-of-listener-suggestions/ Mike Shae aka Sly Flourish aka The Lazy DM https://slyflourish.com Chris McDowall's Bastionland blog https://www.bastionland.com/2023/04/getting-rules-wrong.html & https://www.bastionland.com/2023/04/taking-action.html Marcia B's Traverse Fantasy blog https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com & Itch page https://traversefantasy.itch.io Christian Buggedei's Mail Order Apocalypse https://moa.orkpiraten.de Music by Timothy J. Drennon "Warning" by Lieren of Updates From the Middle of Nowhere Leave me an audio message via ⁠https://anchor.fm/free-thrall⁠ or ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/KeepOffTheBorderlands⁠ You can email me at ⁠spencer.freethrall@gmail.com⁠ Find me here ⁠https://twitter.com/FreeThrall⁠, here ⁠https://www.facebook.com/FreeThrall/⁠ and here ⁠https://freethrall.carrd.co⁠ Check out what I'm up to on itch at ⁠https://free-thrall.itch.io/⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/free-thrall/message

Content Warning: Dark Themes, Language, Violence ------ Lost in the Wyld is a new Gullacochica! spin-off series where we explore different vignettes of the Wyld through one shots with featured guests. In this episode we play Apocalypse World by Vincent and Meguey Baker, the game on which all PbtA games are based off. We are joined by Lauren, Miah, and Jonny of The Monster's Playbook.   ------ You can find the Monster's Playbook any podcatcher, and on twitter @MonsterPlaybook ------ Join our Shrimp and Crits Discord server for the official listening parties. These are every release day at 8:30PM EST. https://discord.gg/qCHktpeTDG ------ In today's announcements we include a promo for the podcast Gimme Da Loot (@Gmdlcast on Twitter) ------ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ShrimpandCrits ------ Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @shrimpandcrits. You can follow our linktree (https://linktr.ee/ShrimpandCrits) to our website, merch store, and much much more. Please subscribe, rate and review us on any podcatchers where you listen. If you'd like to get in touch, feel free to do so by email (shrimpandcritspodcast@gmail.com) or post (PO Box 60934 Nashville TN, 37206) ------ All music written and produced by Shrimp and Crits except "A Clumsy Psychiatrist" by L'Orange. 

Grab yer cowl, some spirit bottles, and a blade or two, cause it's time to take a deep dive into the world of Blades in the Dark! Set in the city of Doskvol, Blades is a world of literal darkness. One where the sun has been blasted out of the sky, where there is a veritable cornucopia of monsters, ghosts, and demons who will swallow your soul without a second thought, where there's a gang on every street corner waiting to take you for everything you're worth. Blades in the Dark is a game that's very close to our hearts and one that you should definitely check out right now on this week's episode! – Contact us at: info@philomythia.com – All The Links: https://linktr.ee/philomythia – Music is Provided by Jerry Stenquist. Check his music out at https://theplayercharacter.com/ – EPISODE LINKS https://johnharper.itch.io/ (Johnathan Harper) https://bladesinthedark.com/greetings-scoundrel (Blades in the Dark) https://bladesinthedark.com/basics (Beginner's guide) https://bladesinthedark.com/character-playbook (Playbooks) https://bladesinthedark.com/stress-trauma (Stress & Trauma) https://bladesinthedark.com/action-roll (The Devil's Bargain) https://bladesinthedark.com/progress-clocks (Progress Clocks) https://bladesinthedark.com/planning-engagement (Flashbacks) https://bladesinthedark.com/planning-engagement (Engagement rolls) http://Itch.io (Itch.io) https://evilhat.com/ (Evil Hat Productions) https://evilhat.com/product/thirsty-sword-lesbians/ (Thirsty Sword Lesbians) https://fate-srd.com/ (FATE) https://evilhat.com/product/dresden-files-rpg-our-world/ (Dresden Files) http://apocalypse-world.com/ (Apocalypse World) https://lumpley.itch.io/ (Vincent & Meguey Baker) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_in_the_Vineyard (Dogs in the Vineyard) https://lumpley.itch.io/murderous-ghosts (Murderous Ghost) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_by_the_Apocalypse (Powered by the Apocalypse) https://bladesinthedark.com/forged-dark (Forged in the Dark) https://bladesinthedark.com/blades-supplements (Moar Forged in the Dark)

Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) est un cadre de conception de jeu de rôle sur table développé par Meguey Baker et Vincent Baker pour le jeu Apocalypse World en  2010 et utilisé par la suite pour Dungeon World, Monsterhearts et de nombreux autres jeux de rôle sur table.  Dès le début, Baker a autorisé et encouragé des “hacks” (détournements thématiques) du système de jeu en ouvrant un forum dédié. Plusieurs sont apparus avec les années, offrant ainsi des prémisses aussi variées que nombreuses. Parmi la pléthore de jeux PBTA, P.P. ose proposer un top 10, sortant de la mer d'ouvrages quelques gammes qui ont atteint son cœur de manière assez particulière.  Bonne écoute !  10. Kishu : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/319947/KISHU? 9. Ross Rifles : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/325966/Ross-Rifles--Core-Rulebook 8. Bedlam Hall : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/216652/Bedlam-Hall 7. The Warren : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/168477/The-Warren 6. FIST : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/306921/FIST 5. Night Witches : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/146173/Night-Witches 4. Urban Shadows : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153464/Urban-Shadows-1st-Ed 3. ROOT : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/373406/Root-The-Roleplaying-Game 2. Monster of the Week : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/143518/Monster-of-the-Week 1.The Between : https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/360858/The-Between ___________________________ Pour suivre Coup Critique : Site web : https://coupcritique.ca/ Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/coupcritiqueca Twitter : https://twitter.com/coupcritiqueca Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/coupcritiqueca Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/coupcritique YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/c/CoupCritique?sub_confirmation=1 Podcast : Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/7edeM6Cxa1Xrtam3v54B3G iTunes : https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/coup-critique/id1465650139 Podbean : https://coupcritique.podbean.com/

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020 Presented by Russell Collins, Brennan Taylor, Meguey Baker, Greg Stolze. Was your game imperfect when it was released? Has it changed over time? Have you? We'll explore why (and how) you can update your game for the 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th, edition

Note: This is the last-recorded episode of Roulette, but it is not the finale. More info in the intro, but we're bogged down with scheduling issues. We are posting this, and a one-shot, and then starting a new campaign with a new group. (Also, we had Audio problems with Megan's audio for the first 20 minutes, but I assure you she was hilarious in the blank spaces.) -- Lemon makes a mess. Ross meets his heroes. Finch starts a revolution? -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Theme music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom. Some sound effects from FreeSound.org and Zapsplat.com, additional music from GameDevMarket. For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020 Presented by Jeeyon Shim, Meguey Baker, Jason Morningstar.   Understanding the natural world as an active participant in games and design shifts our engagement with environmental justice and enriches every aspect of our work. Join this panel of game designers with backgrounds as adventure guides, outdoor educators, and naturalists as they discuss the various ways integrating the natural world positively impacts their design and community work in games. Attendees will learn tools to understand the more-than-human community around them in ways they can weave into their own participation in games, whether as players, designers, or organizers.

Dans ce numéro 117 des Voix d'Altaride nous recevons Jason Pitre et Matthieu Be pour parler de Once more into the Void de Jammi R. Nedjadi créé sur le modèle de Firebrands : Mobile Frame Zero de Vincent et Meguey Baker. On examine le fonctionnement de ces jeux, des mini jeux qui les composent, comment […] Cet article Voix d'Altaride 117 – Once more into the Void est apparu en premier sur Voix d'Altaride.

The second half of my conversation with historian and noted game designer, Meguey Baker. Deep history and what is the history of now going to look like? Book review: So You Want To Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo. Meguey Baker on Twitter @nightskygames Night Sky Games  Apocalypse World So You Want To Talk About Race 

Join Craig, Meguey Baker, and Vincent Baker as they discuss their creative process and approach. Where did the seeds of Apocalypse World first appear? What do they think of the PbtA explosion? What are they working on now? Check out their work: https://lumpley.games/ Their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lumpley Twitter: https://twitter.com/lumpleygames?lang=en and https://twitter.com/NightSkyGames Support us on Patreon!: https://www.patreon.com/Thirdfloorwars Check out our live streaming content on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thirdfloorwars Don't miss our battle reports, painting tutorials, and gaming content on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA496705JLkpgAssAhetpdw The best tokens are at Customeeple.com - use the promo code ThirdFloorFriend for a 5% discount on everything except retail products and playmat. Support us (and get the best mats in the business) at Mats by Mars and get 10% off your entire order by using the promo code: THIRDFLOOR0621 https://matsbymars.com/collections/36-x-36-mats Get a cool T-Shirt or mug and help us bring you more content. The store is open! https://thirdfloorwars.com/shop/ Support your favorite podcast and get some killer Malifaux gadgets here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/687047710/third-floor-wars-malifaux-accessory-set?ref=hp_rf-1 Support us (and get free shipping on orders over $100) at Gadzooks Gaming: https://www.gadzooksgaming.com Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thirdfloorwars/ Follow us on Twitter: @ThirdFloorWars Give us feedback or leave us a message that we can use in a future episode! You can record your message here: https://anchor.fm/thirdfloorwars/message You can also record your question as an audio file and email it to us admin@thirdfloorwars.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thirdfloorwars/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thirdfloorwars/support

Ce numéro présente et décortique les jeux Belonging Outside Belonging, initiés par Dream Askew et Dream Apart. Participants: Invitée en tant qu'autrice de BoB : MelvilleÉrudit ès BoB : Matthieu BSociologue du vivre ensemble : LisaBananaTesteuse de Wanderhome : ErellAnimation et montage : Lam Son 00:00:47 Introduction00:01:52 A l'origine des BoB : Dream Askew et Dream Apart00:04:21 Des jeux qui ne figent pas une structure d'histoire00:07:42 Autres ancêtres, Archipelago00:10:23 Structure et Moves00:18:42 Jouer la vulnérabilité et l'entraide00:23:13 Prendre soin des autres à la table00:25:32 Idle dreaming00:28:04 Que joue-t-on dans Dream Askew et Dream Apart ?00:29:26 BoB est-il un label ?00:31:48 BoB sans communauté marginalisée00:37:22 Facile de jouer avec des personnes marginalisée00:38:31 Melville parle de Bois Dormant00:42:41 Point de vue sociologique sur la communauté dans les BoB00:50:53 Et les communautés normatives qui rejettent ?00:54:51 Conflit au sein de la communauté00:58:47 Les cadres01:01:34 Répartir les cadres, jouer avec un MJ01:03:34 Wanderhome01:13:29 Lien avec les Bac-à-sable du quotidien et Rêve de Dragon01:15:11 Facilité de prise en main et robustesse des BoB01:17:03 Différence Move BoB vs Move PbtA01:20:07 Accessibilité des BoB01:23:01 Oublier des règles ce n'est pas grave, on peut s'approprier le système01:30:48 Qu'est-ce qui a amené Melville aux BoB ?01:34:49 Analogie avec l'écriture de tables aléatoires01:36:46 Ecrire les moves quotidiens01:39:26 Exemple: Batman01:40:12 Des couleurs de l'amitié01:48:38 D'autres jeux BoB marquants01:52:44 Conclusion et mots de la fin Pour aller plus loin : Dream Askew (en) d'Avery Alder / Deam Apart (en) de Benjamin RosenbaumGuide pour jouer aux BoB sur C'est pas du Jeu de RôleApocalypse World (en) de Vincent & Meguey BakerLady Blackbird (VF), Blades in the Dark (VF) de John Harper chroniqués respectivement dans RR29 et RR87Archipelago (VF) de Matthijs HolterJouer le ravin sur Je ne suis pas MJ mais …Play to win / play to lose / play to liftSaga Héroïque de Gaël Sacré, chroniqué dans RR109Bois Dormant de MelvilleBefore the spire falls VF de Kaylie & Loren PonderLa clé des nuages / la clef des songes de kF et Côme Martin (voir le RR sur le jeu symboliste)Des couleurs de l'amitié de MelvilleTrois jours de soleilQuelque part sur la routeSe souvenir de NovembreLes bourgeonsActual play illustrés en direct par La fille d'à côté Bibliographie de sociologie DURKHEIM É., 1930 [1893], De la division du travail social, Paris, PUF.NISBET R. A., 1984 [1966], La Tradition sociologique, Paris, PUF.SCHRECKER C., 2006, La Communauté. Histoire critique d'un concept dans la sociologie anglo-saxonne, Paris, L'Harmattan.SIMMEL G., 1999 [1908], Sociologie, Paris, PUF.TÖNNIES F., 1944 [1887], Communauté et Société : catégories fondamentales de la sociologie, Paris, PUF.WEBER M., 1995 [1921], Économie et Société, Paris, Plon.YOUNG M. et WILLMOTT P., 1983 [1957], Le Village dans la ville, Paris, Centre de la création industrielle, Centre Georges-Pompidou. Balikbayan (en) de Jamila R. Nedjadi (article en Français)Frankencast n°9Wanderhome (en) de Jay Dragon Kit de découverte en FrançaisContenu complémentaire en Français Rêve de Dragon de Denis GerfaudSur les frontières de Melville chroniqué dans RR61Summer camp de Melville chroniqué dans RR89Dominion de Khelren chroniqué dans RR106Sleepaway (en) de Jay DragonGalactic (en) de Riley RethalOathbreakers (en) de Jamila R. NedjadiOrbital (en) de Jack HarrisonTous les jeux BoB disponibles sur itch.ioParty games : Le roi est mort VF et Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrand VF de Vincent & Meguey Baker

Ce numéro présente et décortique les jeux Belonging Outside Belonging, initiés par Dream Askew et Dream Apart. Participants: Invitée en tant qu'autrice de BoB : MelvilleÉrudit ès BoB : Matthieu BSociologue du vivre ensemble : LisaBananaTesteuse de Wanderhome : ErellAnimation et montage : Lam Son 00:00:47 Introduction00:01:52 A l'origine des BoB : Dream Askew et Dream Apart00:04:21 Des jeux qui ne figent pas une structure d'histoire00:07:42 Autres ancêtres, Archipelago00:10:23 Structure et Moves00:18:42 Jouer la vulnérabilité et l'entraide00:23:13 Prendre soin des autres à la table00:25:32 Idle dreaming00:28:04 Que joue-t-on dans Dream Askew et Dream Apart ?00:29:26 BoB est-il un label ?00:31:48 BoB sans communauté marginalisée00:37:22 Facile de jouer avec des personnes marginalisée00:38:31 Melville parle de Bois Dormant00:42:41 Point de vue sociologique sur la communauté dans les BoB00:50:53 Et les communautés normatives qui rejettent ?00:54:51 Conflit au sein de la communauté00:58:47 Les cadres01:01:34 Répartir les cadres, jouer avec un MJ01:03:34 Wanderhome01:13:29 Lien avec les Bac-à-sable du quotidien et Rêve de Dragon01:15:11 Facilité de prise en main et robustesse des BoB01:17:03 Différence Move BoB vs Move PbtA01:20:07 Accessibilité des BoB01:23:01 Oublier des règles ce n'est pas grave, on peut s'approprier le système01:30:48 Qu'est-ce qui a amené Melville aux BoB ?01:34:49 Analogie avec l'écriture de tables aléatoires01:36:46 Ecrire les moves quotidiens01:39:26 Exemple: Batman01:40:12 Des couleurs de l'amitié01:48:38 D'autres jeux BoB marquants01:52:44 Conclusion et mots de la fin Pour aller plus loin : Dream Askew (en) d'Avery Alder / Deam Apart (en) de Benjamin RosenbaumGuide pour jouer aux BoB sur C'est pas du Jeu de RôleApocalypse World (en) de Vincent & Meguey BakerLady Blackbird (VF), Blades in the Dark (VF) de John Harper chroniqués respectivement dans RR29 et RR87Archipelago (VF) de Matthijs HolterJouer le ravin sur Je ne suis pas MJ mais …Play to win / play to lose / play to liftSaga Héroïque de Gaël Sacré, chroniqué dans RR109Bois Dormant de MelvilleBefore the spire falls VF de Kaylie & Loren PonderLa clé des nuages / la clef des songes de kF et Côme Martin (voir le RR sur le jeu symboliste)Des couleurs de l'amitié de MelvilleTrois jours de soleilQuelque part sur la routeSe souvenir de NovembreLes bourgeonsActual play illustrés en direct par La fille d'à côté Bibliographie de sociologie DURKHEIM É., 1930 [1893], De la division du travail social, Paris, PUF.NISBET R. A., 1984 [1966], La Tradition sociologique, Paris, PUF.SCHRECKER C., 2006, La Communauté. Histoire critique d'un concept dans la sociologie anglo-saxonne, Paris, L'Harmattan.SIMMEL G., 1999 [1908], Sociologie, Paris, PUF.TÖNNIES F., 1944 [1887], Communauté et Société : catégories fondamentales de la sociologie, Paris, PUF.WEBER M., 1995 [1921], Économie et Société, Paris, Plon.YOUNG M. et WILLMOTT P., 1983 [1957], Le Village dans la ville, Paris, Centre de la création industrielle, Centre Georges-Pompidou. Balikbayan (en) de Jamila R. Nedjadi (article en Français)Frankencast n°9Wanderhome (en) de Jay Dragon Kit de découverte en FrançaisContenu complémentaire en Français Rêve de Dragon de Denis GerfaudSur les frontières de Melville chroniqué dans RR61Summer camp de Melville chroniqué dans RR89Dominion de Khelren chroniqué dans RR106Sleepaway (en) de Jay DragonGalactic (en) de Riley RethalOathbreakers (en) de Jamila R. NedjadiOrbital (en) de Jack HarrisonTous les jeux BoB disponibles sur itch.ioParty games : Le roi est mort VF et Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrand VF de Vincent & Meguey Baker

Today's guest is Meguey Baker, historian and noted designer of many notable role playing games including Apocalypse World and 1001 Nights. We talk about who makes the narrative, and the power of story. Book review of Diversity in the Workplace, by Bärí A. Williams. Meguey Baker on Twitter @nightskygames Night Sky Games  Apocalypse World  Diversity in the Workplace 

Emma and Gil chat with Jeeyon Shim, game designer, nature fan, and mushroom enthusiast. Jeeyon's games are about connecting with one's environment, and we discuss what it's like to make games like this. We also discuss playtesting (or not playtesting) indie games, the conception of "nature" and its connection with humanity, and how cute our pets are. SHOW NOTES 1m53s: The IGDN is the Indie Game Developer Network, an organization supporting indie tabletop designers. They offer mentorships and convention scholarships; one of these is to Metatopia, a tabletop game design convention in New Jersey. 4m25s: Jeeyon's games Dear Poppy, First Lesson, Your Dead Friend 8m30s: Daniel Kwan, half of the Asians Represent podcast. 12m09s: Avery Alder's Belonging Outside Belonging and D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker's Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) are both tabletop RPG "engines" that can be used to make other games. Belonging Outside Belonging first appeared in Dream Askew, and PbtA first appeared in Apocalypse World. 13m36s: Here, have some sample ecosystem maps. 31m56s: The genus Lactarius, aka Candy cap mushrooms. 34m32s: We had Kienna Shaw, Lauren Bryant-Monk, and John Stavropoulos on Ludology 227 - Respect the X discussing safety tools in games. 39m55s: Matthew Gravelyn is a tabletop game designer. Jeeyon mentions her game Pin Feathers (part of a diptych with its second half, Cloud Studies). 41m05s: Pontifuse was part of the Cheapass game collection Chief Herman's Next Big Thing. 41m31s: We've already mentioned Avery Alder's Belonging Outside Belonging. Variations On Your Body is a collection of 4 solo LARPs  and one essay about learning to accept oneself.  43m50s: Jeeyon's game Crimson. 47m09s: Avery Alder's game from Variations that Emma is referring to is "Teen Witch." 57m27s: We chatted with toy inventor Kim Vandenbrouke in Ludology 212 - Inventing Play. 1h09m10s: "Itch" is itch.io, a popular sales platform for digital and tabletop indie games. 1h11m33s: Pseudohydnum gelatinosum, aka cat's tongue mushrooms. 1h19m12s: "Rubenesque" refers to the work of Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, who was known for painting plus-sized women.  1h21m51s: More info about Zine Quest, from Kickstarter. 1h25m57s: More info about Lucian Kahn's Zine Quest anthology Hibernation Games, which includes one of Jeeyon's games. 1h30m00s: Jeeyon's Twitter and Patreon.

This week, Todd, Nick, and Percy chat about the way we pass down creative knowledge from one generation of artists to another. They examine the impact of the incredible María Irene Fornés on the theatre field alongside the way D. Vincent and Meguey Baker have influenced game design in the world of TTRPGs.    Works referenced: The Fornes Frame by Anne García-Romero "Maria Irene Fornes: Acts of Translation" by Andrew Sofer "Teaching Fornes: Preserving Fornesian Techniques in Critical Context" by Gwendolyn Alker The House of Paula Vogel: Her Theater and Her Influence on Nilo Cruz, Sarah Ruhl, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Lynn Nottage by Lee Jones     Thanks for listening to Dungeons and Drama Nerds. While you’re here, please consider donating to a bail fund in your area to support ongoing protests for Black lives: https://bailfunds.github.io/   Thanks for listening to Dungeons and Drama Nerds! Find us on Twitter and Instagram @dnddramanerds, and on Facebook at Dungeons and Drama Nerds. For cast bios, head to our website, dungeonsanddramanerds.com.     Dungeons and Drama Nerds is produced by Todd Brian Backus, Percy Hornak, and Nick Orvis, and is mixed and edited by Anthony Sertel Dean.   Our Apocalypse World campaign, Irremediably Home, features JonJon Johnson as the writer and Master of Ceremonies, Percy Hornak as Vance Holliday, T.P. Huth as Vector, Ella Mock as AZ Honey, and Dex Phan as Sydney Thorpe.

The world is changed...I feel it in the meat. I feel it in the meat. I smell it...in the meat. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Theme music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom. Some sound effects from FreeSound.org, additional music from GameDevMarket. For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Emma and Gil welcome game designer and publisher Omari Akil to the show to discuss the plight of the sports-themed board game. What kinds of unique challenges do we face when designing one of these games? Omari's game Hoop Godz will be on Kickstarter soon. SHOW NOTES 1m21s: Board Game Brothas, Tabletop Backer Party, Pathways Fellowship 4m55s: Gil was 5 years off - Mike's game is Baseball Highlights: 2045. 12m09s: Football Strategy 12m47s: Gil would like to shout out Arthur Franz IV's self-published game Breakaway Football as a game with a really nice mix of play deciding versus output randomness. 15m32s: Gil will defend the term "soccer," seriously. It's a perfectly good way to refer to association football! 16m06s: Strat-O-Matic Baseball, released in 1962. 17m41s: Dino Dunk 18m07s: Crokinole 18m25s: Nok Hockey, Air Hockey, Electric Football. We also neglected to mention the flicking game family Subbuteo, which represents all sorts of sports. 22m43s: Gil eventually gets to his curling thoughts at 39m22s. 25m48s: Madden is EA's long-running NFL gridiron football video game sim (named for legendary player, coach, and broadcaster John Madden). 28m58s: Ultimate is a competitive sport using a throwable disc (like a Frisbee) instead of a ball. 29m50s: In 2017, Geek and Sundry launched a "T-Sports" league for competitive tabletop games (strangely, announcing it on April 1, and then having to explain that it was real). Sadly, it did not go far. 30m57s: Bennett Foddy's talk "Making it Matter: Lessons from Real Sports". Foddy is known for making punishingly-hard digital games like QWOP and Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. 38m36s: Omari is referring to the common sports term GOAT, an acronym of Greatest Of All Time. 41m28s: Hystericoach 43m16s: Bottom of the Ninth 45m09s: Blaseball. RPG designer Meguey Baker's thread on it. 46m56s: Omari wrote more about how his lived experience affected the design of Rap Godz. 48m24s: More info about how Omari and YouTuber (and all-around excellent person) Danny Plays Gamez raised $80,000 for BLM:  56m25s: Paula Deming's channel, Things Get Dicey, is absolutely amazing to behold. Top-notch writing, performing, and filming. 57m11s: For those of you who don't have the honor of consuming Capri Sun in the part of the world where you live, it's a (vaguely) fruit-flavored beverage.  1h01m16s: The GIF Omari is referring to, featuring young Brazilian skater Rayssa Leal. The GIF Gil is referring to, linked to from famous skater Tony Hawk. 

Bear's still pissed. The group learns how to google. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

The gang solve the age old riddle "How do you crash a train that's already stopped?" and the crowbar reaches the end of its character arc. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Down the hatch! Board the train! Ride the rails! Fight the murder lizards! Pretty sure this is a Kenny Rogers song. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Our intrepid gang of dudes (gender neutral) starts to unravel family secrets through the clever use of an involuntary, shared, fever-nightmare.   -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

The Dufrense sisters are reunited under totally normal Dufresne family circumstances. Ross eats a sleeve of saltines.   -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Hi everyone, and thank you for tuning in to another episode of the We Make Books Podcast - A podcast about writing, publishing, and everything in between!   This week we were lucky enough to sit down with Michael R. Underwood, author the upcoming novel "Annihilation Aria" from Parvus Press.  Full disclosure: Kaelyn was Mike's editor on the book and so we got have an extra in-depth and behind the scenes discussion about the craft of writing and how characters, plots, and worlds can change and adapt as the story is written.  Mike was a fountain of information and knowledge and we both left the conversation with some amazing insight into the process behind creating a book with such rich world building and dynamic characters.  We had a great time talking with Mike and hope that you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.   We Make Books is hosted by Rekka Jay and Kaelyn Considine; Rekka is a published author and Kaelyn is an editor and together they are going to take you through what goes into getting a book out of your head, on to paper, in to the hands of a publisher, and finally on to book store shelves. We Make Books is a podcast for writers and publishers, by writers and publishers and we want to hear from our listeners! Hit us up on our social media, linked below, and send us your questions, comments, concerns, and if you've read Annihilation Aria, let us know what you think!   You can (and should) check out Mike on social media at:   Twitter: @MikeRUnderwood Website: www.michaelrunderwood.com   Annhiliation Aria is available everywhere awesome books are sold on July 21, 2020!   www.books2read.com/annihilation-aria   We hope you enjoy We Make Books!   Twitter: @WMBCast  |  @KindofKaelyn  |  @BittyBittyZap Instagram: @WMBCast  Patreon.com/WMBCast   Episode 39: Annihilation Aria with Michael R. Underwood transcribed by Sara Rose (@saraeleanorrose)   [0:00]   R: Welcome back to We Make Books, a podcast about writing, publishing, and everything in between! I’m Rekka, I write science fiction and fantasy as R.J. Theodore.   K: And I’m Kaelyn Considine, I’m the acquisitions editor for Parvus Press.    R: And today, we have to make another full disclosure-confession. We have another Parvus author on today. You recently heard us talk to Scott Warren of the Union Earth Privateers book—book series, I should say. And today we have another author of another amazing Parvus book, Michael R. Underwood of Annihilation Aria fame, or about to be fame. I hope it’s fame because this book deserves it.   K: Yeah, Annihilation Aria’s coming out a week from when this will be released, so this is July 14th, coming out July 21st. It’s a fantastic book, space opera. When I first got the manuscript and was kind of giving a it a rundown to my publisher and the other people on my team, I described it as the gender-swapped Mummy in space.   R: Yeah. With magic. Well, I guess The Mummy does have magic, too.   K: Yeah, yeah but with giant space turtles, and therefore better.   R: Yeah, yes.   K: So Mike was kind enough to take the time and sit and talk with us about the evolution of story writing and character development. This book had been something that he was working on for years. It, well, the core parts of it didn’t change too much. The book certainly underwent a lot of evolution over the years. And MIke is so smart, so talented, has a lot of really great insight and advice to offer when it comes to, you know, being about to take a look back at your own work and figuring out how it needs to change in order to serve the story. So, we had a great time talking with Mike. Hopefully you have a great time listening to him, and you should, you still have time right now to pre-order Annihilation Aria, book one of The Space Operas. Absolutely check it out. Not only because I’m the one that edited it, but because it is an excellent book.   R: I totally agree. I got the chance to read it when I was recovering in the hospital and it was a delight. It was absolutely everything that Kaelyn and Mike promised it would be.    K: So, anyway, take a listen and we hope you enjoy!   [intro music plays]    R: Of course we just used up all our small talk, we don’t recall any of it. So, I guess we’re gonna have to go straight into it.   K: Dive right into talking to Mike Underwood today!   M: Hi! I’m sorry! This is the thing about being on a podcast that I’ve listened to. I have to actively keep my brain dial on the Talk to These People mode, instead of the Listen to These People mode.   R: I mean we can just talk about you, but it seems a little rude considering you’re in the recording with us.   K: Especially because none of us are in the same space right now. Usually Rekka and I are at least sitting across from each other.   R: I have the blanket that Kaelyn usually has today.   K: Ahh, my blanket! I miss that blanket. It sheds all over me, but it’s worth it.   R: Yeah, well, stuff has to shed in my shed…   K, disappointed: Oh, Rekka.   R, unashamed: It works with the name, but it’s also because it makes me feel less lonely for my pets that are in the house because we don’t want them shedding in the shed.    K: Alright, I’m derailing this conversation now. This just goes down a road of puns that there’s no recovery from, and then we have to start over again and it’s just… it’s gonna be a thing. So, Mike, do you wanna save us here and introduce yourself?   [K and R laugh]   M: Sure. I’m Mike Underwood, I write as Michael R. Underwood. I mostly do action adventure meta-genre kinds of stuff. I like found families, I like trope-twisting, and my next book is Annihilation Aria which is coming out with Parvus Press, so I’ve had the fortune of getting to work with both of you in a professional capacity and I’m very excited to talk about the book with your audience.   K: We’re really excited to have you on here, because this book has a long and storied history. This was not a, simply, Wrote Something, Submitted It, Got It Accepted and Published. There was, even before it came to Parvus, before I started working on it, you were, what? three-ish years into this book at that point?   M: Yeah, so. This book basically starts in the movie theater as I’m watching Guardians of the Galaxy.   K: Okay.   M: And like really enjoying a lot of what it did with tone and, kind of, bold visual style with all of the high technicolor space opera bits, plus some retro nostalgia aspects. And so that informed a conversation I had with an editor, who I shall let remain nameless, that I was talking with at a world fantasy convention. In that conversation, I mentioned that I really would love to write something that would make people feel the same type of joy and smile-so-much-your-cheeks-hurt kind of vibe, that I got while watching so much of Guardians of the Galaxy. And it’s not a perfect film because there are very few perfect films, but I loved that mode of space opera that it had. Where it’s a bit more irreverent, it still has some of the found family vibes that you see in something like Firefly or Killyjoys. But it’s on the more adventure-y, epicfantasy but-make-it-space and pewpew versus space opera that’s a lot more, that leans more towards hard science like something like The Expanse. I’ve always been more of a Dune- and Star Wars-end of space opera kid versus that kind of overlap between space opera and military SF or the [radio voice] This Is What Thing Will Be Like Seven Hundred Years In the Future When We Have An Alcubierre Drive or whatever. That’s not my thing.   [K and R laugh]   M: And so what I brought to it was, you know, a lifetime of loving Star Wars, but also various roleplaying games and wanting to find in a project, a place to say what I was interested in and investigate the things I loved about space opera. So I took a play from Annie Balay, who has talked about making up a wishlist of tropes that she loves about urban fantasy, and she put those into a series. So I just kind of sketched out fun, weird things. Like, “What if giant spaceturtles?” and space magic bullshit and—   R: Perfect.   M: And finding a way to just kitchen sink a novel, in terms of things that I liked. And it kind of started to build up momentum there. But because I wrote it as a back-burner project over years and years and years, where it started and what it has become now, there’s a big gap there and there’s a lot to unpack from what the characters were really about to how the world feels to, then, into the editorial process with Kaelyn kind of repeatedly inviting me to unpack things or slow down and give a deeper view into characters.   K: It’s very generous of you to use the word “invited you to”.   R: Yeah, I was gonna say. I know Kaelyn, that’s a very interesting verb choice.   K, laughing: “Mike, I’d like to hear more about this.” “Oh, okay, here’s a sentence.” “No, Mike, I know where you live, Mike!”   That was something that I, just for clarification I’m the editor of Parvus that worked with Mike on this in case that hasn’t become apparent. One of the things that really drew me to this book and that I was wanting Mike to slow down and unpack was the characters. For all the setting and the fantastical elements of this, the characters are such a huge driving force, I think, for the story. I would absolutely read anything that is just set in this universe. As long as the characters are as engaging, compelling, and fun as the ones that you’re written in Annihilation Aria. But you had kind of  a few things that you wanted to accomplish with the characters, as well.    M: Yeah, so. I’ve been in the same relationship since 2010, I’m happily married. My wife and I get along very well, and in science fiction, fantasy, adventure fiction especially there’s just not a lot of instances of happily committed couples. Let alone happily committed married couples. And I think there’s a lot of cultural reasons that go into this, that are probably several podcasts-worth of their own and would be best had in conversation with capital R, Romance writers.    But the short version was that I wanted to write the kind of story that really argues that Happily Ever After can also be really exciting. So that was one of the nexuses around which the story was built. Like, okay, well what if I do this but I have a couple that’s already together and happy at the beginning of the book. And not that they don’t face challenges and one at the start of their relationship was: these people who both have a quest that they’re trying to fulfill, if either of them gets what they want, theoretically the couple breaks up.   R: Yeah.   M: But that, when they meet, they’re like, “Oh, you can help me with my thing and I’ll help you with your thing,” except that along the way they fell in love. They’re still on this trajectory that theoretically means—that could mean the dissolution of the relationship, but they don’t really have anything else as a way of being in the world, because they can’t just be together and be happy. They have their own drives and they exist in a pretty oppressive system that requires that they have a lot of money because they both have exterior debts and things like that. The same kind of Firefly vibe.    So that tension between their attraction to each other and their individual quests that might pull them apart was one of the big engines that made the story move. So that when they run into this ancient kingdom, techno, biotech tomb that they run into early in the story, that gets a McGuffin in their hands that then becomes a big deal. And they’re each engaging with it and the things around them because they have these, sometimes competing, usually overlapping, drives that are motivating them.    And that, almost like a perpetual motion machine of character interaction, was really fascinating and I wanted to keep on working with, while trying to balance, respecting the fiction. There really is this chance that things could fall apart for them, while knowing that I wanted them to not break-up because that was part of the whole thing.   R: One thing that was notable for me, as I was reading the book, was that at no point do they not want the other one to succeed. They are so supportive of each other that even though it means that it would break them up, they exist on different planes. Yes, this fact is over here that if I got what I wanted, I would be across the galaxy from this other person.    But at the same time, same plane, they also really want the other person to be happy and to succeed at their personal character arc quest and it’s really, like you said, it builds tension but it’s just really nice to see people who support each other and, even though there’s this big divide between what’s best for their relationship versus what’s best for the individual.   K: Yeah, and along those lines—and this maybe might be a transition into talking about some of the more mechanical aspects of writing this—is that these two characters are Max and Lahra and they are two of the main POV characters, but when you started writing this, they were the only POV characters, correct? [12:46]    M: I think there were a very small number of POV chapters for Wheel, who is the pilot of the two main characters, and then Arek, who is kind of their primary antagonist. So he’s an agent of this galactic empire that controls the space that they live in. I had a little bit from each of them as counterpoint or context, but it was still very much Max and Lahra’s story and the other ones were just there to give a little bit of context and color.    And only over years of doing other projects and writing and growing as a creator, did I make the moves to promote Wheel and Arek as POV characters and to treat them with more depth and groundedness, as I engaged with them. Especially into the revision process, I saw and was convinced that there was more for the novel to do and it could be richer for digging more into the emotional lives of all four of those POV characters.   R: And you really did. Especially with Arek. He’s not the prototypical space-fiction villain. He’s got a lot of complexity to him. He is still definitely a villain, but he’s the least worst villain personality? And they’re definitely—again, you’ve given each character a drive and something that they’re aiming for which might be at odds with what the organizations that they work with are aiming for.  So, how did you make those decisions, as you’re developing? Especially a villain character, but also Wheel.    It’s really interesting that Wheel might have had a very tiny part just in the sense that Wheel is the owner of the ship that everyone lives on, I assume, and maybe Wheel has to help rescue at some point. Or Wheel has to support with something Wheel can witness that the other characters can’t, or something like that. I mean, I have obviously done the same thing with POVs where somebody was there because it was convenient to have another POV and then that person had to become a fully-rounded character of their own. But when you built Arek, you didn’t have to go that far. You still could have sold this book without going as far with Arek as you did. But, so why—how did you start to see Arek and how much sympathy do you, personally, have for him?    K: Well, and I’ll jump into just to add that you gave all of these characters a life outside of this story. Every single person, if they were not taking part in this story happening to them, would be doing something else. And we, the reader, are in a position where  we can kind of see or imagine what they’re doing because even though you don’t have to spend a lot of time on it, but it gives us a very good sense of them.    M: Yeah, I think a lot of how I approach characterization and writing is probably informed by growing up playing table-top roleplaying games. So, table-top roleplaying was one of the main ways that I learned to tell stories and to think about what I wanted from stories. Alongside reading and watching TV and movies and reading comics and things like that. So in a lot of roleplaying, you have the characters as they are and then you’re engaging with a game master who says, “Here’s a plot!” and then you engage with the plot. And that’s one style of game mastering, and more recent roleplaying games, a lot of them are more player-driven in terms of character agenda and shared narrative authority and things like that. And the Apocalypse World tradition from that game by Vincent and Meguey Baker and all the games that come from it.   So I brought kind of one version of acting experience to writing. In terms of: okay, here’s a character and they are my character and I wanna be able to inhabit them at least a little bit to get a sense of who they are, so that when I, then, also as the writer, can throw things at them. I’m able to jump between those registers in terms of inhabiting a character and kind of providing the antagonism or the context and/or all the other stuff that goes around a character. I think it was because I was familiar with that style—so much of what my writing comes out of is that if I’m gonna be in the POV of a character, it’s hard to not spend some time with them and to linger with them and to think about their agency and their—what they want from the world.    And as much as I grew up loving Star Wars and Darth Vader, and Darth Vader is a great antagonist but he’s not a great character in a rounded fashion because he’s so much of a cypher. He is the iron fist that punches at the protagonists. You get into the prequels and you see some of the backstory and—but that’s not what I grew up with. I was sixteen or so when Episode I came out and we really start to get that backstory for him. I think I moved toward this point where, at least some of the time, I want villains or, at least the personification of villainy or the person that the team is engaging with, to feel enough like a person that they are not just a moustache-twirling for. Because I’ve written more straight-up moustache-twirling villains in other books. Like in Shield and Crocus, which is very superhero-y, the villains kind of run the gamut. Some of them are just like, “I Am Really Terrible! HAHA! Oppression!”   [K laughs quietly]   M: In Arek, I think he started out as more of Lieutenant Bad Guy and he probably grew that roundedness when I thought about like, “Why is he the one who’s out here in the Boondocks?”   R: Mhm.   K: Yeah.   M: Who is the person within this species-supremacist empire that ends up on this bad duty? And, okay, I know that, from what I know about militaries and governments, okay you get a crap duty because you piss somebody off or because you’re out of favor. Well what is it like to be out of favor in this species of supersoldier, galactic tyrants? Why would that be a thing? So I started thinking a little bit about class and caste within a species. Or is it that he has some relationship to the dominant ideology of the species? So he ended up as being more humane than most of the members of his civilization.    Because of that, he was marginalized within this very domineering, fascist civilization. It’s a little bit of getting to talk about the way that oppressive civilizations oppress even the people that have power or that not everybody is equal, even within an oligarchy. Because the lines of oppression and pressures are not all along one axis. Everything is very multiaxial in terms of where people occupy more privileged or less privileged positions or are taking actions that put them more or less in line with a dominant paradigm.   Thinking about worldbuilding in that fashion is also really important to me. So when I take a character and put them through that bouncy castle of all these different things of worldbuilding, they tend to accrete a bit more personhood.   K: So, piggybacking off of that, and we kind of touched on this a little bit before, was that you wrote this over a lengthy period of time and there were characters that evolved, obviously, and became more prominent points for, well, viewpoints in the story. How much of that, do you think, was really getting comfortable with and learning about this world you were creating and wanting to build upon, and how much was that, we’re all adults here but, three years, you grow and change and you look back at things that you did before that and go, “Oh, well I don’t like that anymore.” How much of it was organic story-building and evolution and how much of it was going back and evaluating what you’d already written?   [21:35]   M: I think it was definitely both, and in a really integrated circuit kind of way. That life experience and working as a writer were very intertwined. I would fold life experiences into writing or I would develop my understanding of storytelling in a more nuanced fashion because I had time. And because I had time, I could let things remain and mull and simmer over time. Well, what if not just this layer of how Lahra’s civilization operates, but what if there’s this other thing that builds on what’s already there. There’s a multi-caste system and you’ve got the nobility atop and you’ve got soldiers and the soldiers serve the nobility and, well, in a civilization you can’t just have soldiers and nobility. You’re gonna have farmers, you’re gonna have technicians, you’re gonna have all these things.   Okay, so there’s these other parts of society and I had the title Annihilation Aria way before the Genae had music magic.    K: Mhm.   M: Because the title, Annihilation Aria, was like, “Oh, that’s cool because space opera,” and I’m riffing on that, but it’s its own thing. And, you know, world killers are a big thing in space opera. How can I take these things and make them my own? And then I realized, looking back, as I was picking away at the project over years, that I’d already set a foundation upon which I could build something that would give Lahra’s civilization and, therefore her backstory, more meat to it. As I was writing parts of the story where the Genae really matter, I was able to layer on these extra things.    Having more time to layer texture and history onto the story was really valuable and because a lot of the other ways that I’ve written—I wrote my debut and I got an offer to sell it very early in the revision process because of wacky circumstances for which I’m very fortunate. From there, I had several years of, “Okay, cool. So you have a contract, write a book. Turn it in. Production. Publication.” And so I wrote books that were much more condensed in their timeline. So it’s write a book over nine months, revise it over six months, it comes out, or sometimes a little bit more. Sometimes even a little bit less.    With this one, because I didn’t sell it on spec, and I was going in a different direction, it had this opportunity to accrete depth and texture over time. But I don’t want to have a writing career where it takes five years to do every book.   R: I was just about to say, is that something you recommend?    K: Real quick, Mike, if you wouldn’t mind backtracking to kind of go on a little side tangent here. You said “write a book on spec.” For our listeners that maybe do not have as much experience in the professional writing world as you do, what are you saying here? What is writing a book on spec versus what you did with Aria?   M: Sure. So, I sold my debut having written the whole book. And then: cool, we wanna publish this and a sequel. Great. So I did that and then I went back to the same editor and I said, “I wanna write something else from these Ree Reyes books. And so I created pitches and I sold them. I sold those books without having written the whole book, which is one version of—   K: You’re selling based on the pitch that you’re giving.   M: Yeah, and that’s one degree of selling on spec. There are people who say, “Cool! I wanna write a book!” and the publisher’s like, “We love you! Please sell us this book!” That is really selling a book on spec, you know. And that’ll show up in Publisher’s Weekly or Locus as: Famous Author’s Next Book to Editor at Publisher. And it can be very vague. It takes a while for most authors to get to the point where they can just say, “I wanna write a book for you!” and the publisher says, “Yes! Here’s some money.”   K: Most authors will not get to a point where that happens in their career. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s just that, typically—and correct me if I’m wrong—these are going to be household names either within the general populous or within genres.   M: Yeah.   K: You will know the people that are able to sell books on spec.   M: Yeah, or it’s like—I have friends who sell a book that’s already written, but it’s a standalone so they get a two book deal and the second book is: it’ll be a book.   K: Yes! Yeah.   M: That’s probably more common than, “Here’s a one book deal. I don’t know what the book is yet, but I have the track record that you just wanna buy it.” So I had tried to sell a couple of books on partials because I said, “Well, okay, I have this track record and I have this background in the professional side of publishing.” But those didn’t happen. So I just went back to writing new novels and trying to sell things and, at this point, I’d been wanting to do enough different things with my writing where it’s like, “Cool.I’ve got these adventure books and I wanna write some other stuff that’s a bit more sociological or political and try to balance all these things that I wanna do as a creator.”    But I don’t wanna spend five years for each book because, economically, it’s just not viable to be able to support the costs of a writing career in terms of conventions and things like that off of one book every five years unless I’m getting just a lot more money. And very few people get so much money from science fiction, fantasy that they can spend five years on a book. So Aria is this weird book that may be pretty singular in my career, in terms of how long it has taken to become the thing that will be published in, as of this recording, in a couple of months.    So I try to revel in that distinctiveness because it will probably be pretty singular and hope to apply the lessons that I’ve learned while writing it much more efficiently moving forward. To think about things with texture and depth from an earlier part, an earlier stage of the process and then to embrace the opportunity to make a book more rich and texture in the revision process. To try to do several years’ worth of work in maybe a year, year and a half, in strong collaboration with an agent or an editor or something like that.     R: So you’ve spent the last, you know, hand-crafting the tools themselves that you now can put in your toolbox and reach for, hopefully, and use them without having to remake them every time, going forward?   M: I sure hope so.   R: Well that would be a very efficient use of your time, I think.   M: Yeah. I just finished the rough draft for a new novel that is very different from Aria, but I think it would have been very hard for me to write it, if I had not already been through that process of pulling this book together over the course of several years while working on other things as my main deal.Like, developing and doing all the work for Born to the Blade and self-publishing stuff from Genrenauts and things like that. So I’m hoping that the messiness I can clean up a bit while still being able to reapply those tools, as you say.   K: Now, Mike, when you went back from this and I just know from our conversations and working together that, at various points, you spent a lot of time working on this. You picked it up, you put it down again. You came back and forth to it. Were there any points, when you were going through and revising this, that you knew there were changes you had to make that you weren’t happy about making? That you were reluctant to really do anything with?   R: Tell us how Kaelyn hurt you.   M: Um…   K, laughing: No, no we’re talking pre-editor.   R: Oh, okay. If you say so.   K: Well, what I’m trying to get at here is, and Rekka and I back in May, we will have released an episode about making hard decisions about your manuscript and changing things on recommendation, but then also doing it yourself and having that awareness of, “Hey, maybe this isn’t as strong as I want it to be,” or “Maybe this no longer serves this story.” And the reason I’m asking is because you did write this over such a long period of time, it gives you the time and perspective to go back and consider these things.   M: Yeah, so probably the biggest, hardest change was—In the first draft, the novel opens much later in the story compared to the novel as published. And, at that point, I was going for a kind of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark-style opening because that’s another touchstone for this work, as well as something like the 1999 Brendan Fraser-Rachel Weisz The Mummy movies.   [31:09]   K: It’s funny because I remember when I got this manuscript and I was talking to our publisher, Colin, he said, “What do you think?” I said, “It’s The Mummy set in space with elements of Guardians of the Galaxy,” but mostly I said it’s The Mummy in space. If that doesn’t sell a book, I don’t know what will.   M: Yeah, and that Rick and Evy relationship, especially in the second Mummy movie was another big touchstone in terms of, like, they have their own things, they are committed to each other, they’re on adventures—   R: But they have their own styles. Yeah.   M: Yeah, but I have this opening for the book. And one, the first draft came out pretty short because often will draft short and a book will grow in revision because my earlier drafts tend to be a lot more, “Okay, cool. Action, action. World, World. Action, action, action.” And then I go back and unpack things. And, moving forward, I’m hoping that my first drafts will have a little bit more character and breadth and space in them and that in revision I’ll just build on that, as opposed to having to do quite so much work to unpack it.   So there’s—In several different cultures across the world, there’s a mythology that the Universe started as two lovers embraced and that that’s the whole of physical space and that then something or some people push them apart to create the gap between the Earth and the sky. And so I’m trying to make it so that my novels are not that process so much, and that they start out with a bit more room to breathe, so that both the characters can breathe and that the reader can have the space to feel all those emotions as powerfully because they’ve taken the time to ruminate on them, versus just, “Here’s a flashy scene! And here’s some people! And they have distinctive characteristics and now they’re gonna be action figures through a space!”   I want to do more and dwell more with those characters. And part of that’s inspired by reading a lot more romance novels. Where, in romance, the best writers will do a great job of unpacking emotional reactions. So, I have this one start of the novel and I knew that I needed to set things up better, and I wanted a kind of broader story, so that involved moving the clock back within this timeline which also then gave me the opportunity to ground the characters more in their home away from home, in this colony ship that turned city in space called The Wreck. So what if you took a colony ship with a dozen species and they all loaded up this big ship and they had all of their hopes and dreams and they set off and then something goes really wrong and it crashes into some asteroid somewhere. And they absolutely cannot get going again.    I really liked that setting, I just kind of played through it in the original draft. So, in the revision, I was able to say, “Okay, here are the things I like about this, and now I wanna do more with them.” And that was also when I was able to kind of graduate Wheel into more of an equal POV character, in the way that she is tied to this place. And that they, the three of them, Max, Lahra, and Wheel are caught up in this net of relationships and factions. So it was a lot of forcing myself to kind of put my money where my mouth was about: here are things I like in writing, here are things I like in storytelling. I’m gonna push myself to dig deeper, to put the world on display more, to put my characters under pressure along several different axes that then makes it more realistic within the narrative. That they make the choices that they’re making as the story unfolds, so that at any given moment, they’re stuck between some bad options and they try to make the best opportunity for themselves.   Whereas, previously, the reason why they went and did the things that they did, in the earlier drafts, were a little bit more because it’s what I wanted from them, and less because it was the only thing that made sense for who they were as characters and what their relationships were at the time. So it was a lot of raising the stakes, but not in a grimdark fashion. Stakes and the degree to which the characters were enmeshed in the world and were both affected by it and agents effecting it.    R: I want to call attention to what you said, though, about as you expand your draft, you are not adding density to all the spots that you’re expanding, just for the sake of making it longer. But that you actually are going to this with such intent that you are actually creating space, not creating more. You didn’t double the action and then double the tension. You created a space that gave all the characters more room to become alive. So I just thought I’d draw attention to that because so often we talk about, “Oh, yes, in revision my book doubles in length,” but we don’t often say what that content is.   K: Well you can double in length and more than double in substance.    R: Oh yeah, yeah.   K: I think that’s a trap a lot of writers fall into where: I just need to add and add and add, and then at some point someone is gonna tell me, “Yes, you have enough here.” And it’s less about it being enough and more about it being efficient and effective.    M: Right, yeah, because there’s nothing about Storytelling that says, “Ah, sorry, this is only 70,000 words, it’s not a story yet.”   K: Yeah, and if somebody’s telling you that, don’t listen to that person. That’s not—   M: Yeah, and it’s—We’re in a position now, in the industry, where you can publish shorter work and there’s still a chance to find an audience. And any given publisher has their own model that they’re operating within. If you’re selling paper books, there’s kind of a minimum word count that will give you a spine that you can put text on. Those physical realities inform book publishing to a certain degree, but I was already playing within the novel space that was like, “Oh, well if I do more and I’m thoughtful—” It’s not that the book is 30 percent better because it’s 30 percent longer, that’s not the equation that we’re talking about.    There is more space for the character relationships, for those relationships to inform the action, for there to be an arc of how these people relate to each other and the ways that they are or are not invested in different things. So that, then, when I’m doing the big space opera finale, the reader feels like they’ve gone through the flow and the rise and fall of these characters, that the decisions they make there are both believable and kind of a natural catharsis for what the characters have gone through before. So that you get the reader, like, punch-the-fist-in-the-air experience when the character does the big thing.   R: So it’s not just about getting to 100,000 words and stopping.   M: Yeah.   R: Yeah.   K: I will say that, at Parvus, we have, for submissions, a 60,000 word minimum, but that’s because we publish novels and, sure, you can make an argument for some novels that are a little bit below there, but, as Mike said, there’s a certain point where you say, “I need this many words in order for this to be a book that I can have a spine and put the title on.” That said, there’s no reason to restrict yourself to a word count. If you have a great story and it’s 40,000 words, there are places that are looking for great stories that are 40,000 words.   R: Yeah. The only question is what category of the awards do you have your dreams set on, you know? But yeah, tell the story at the length that the story wants to be told. And if you want to explore more ideas, then the story gets a little longer. So, Mike, while you were expanding the story, how much of the relationship between Max and Lahra changed? I mean, you already said that you wanted them to have an established, committed relationship, but how fraught with tension did you want that to be? Like you said one of your inspirations was Guardians of the Galaxy, but Max is as far from Peter Quill as you can get, so what’s—how did that develop?   M: Yeah, I think Max as a character much more emerged from—the idea that I had was, what if you had the couple from The Mummy but you flipped the genders?   R: Mhm.   K: Yup.   M: So you have the fighty, square-jawed character is the wife and the, kind of, not-so-useful in a fight, academic who’s not as used to jumping around in the world, is the husband. And that’s really where it starts because they diverge pretty far from just those two because I wanted to figure out how to have the fish-out-of-water character work. Like, Max is from Earth and this is Very Far from Earth.    [K laughs] And drawing on that tradition of John Carter or of Farscape. There was a lot. It’s portal fantasy, but science fiction. Ultimately.   R: Yeah.   [41:05]   M: And how much it is portal fantasy can depend on how much being from Earth matters. The amount that being from Earth mattered, for Max, kind of increased over time, especially as I was really doubling-down on who Max was. Because Max is a Black guy from Baltimore so he grew up in a specific economic and political and cultural context, but then he’s the one who gets flung into a distant galaxy. Whereas racism doesn’t work the same way there and that’s not the main thing because that’s not my story to tell, as a white writer, but I was committed to respecting who Max is, as a person, and so I was able to build some things around him.    So what that became is that Max was already used to code switching between different cultural registers, and then here we have this multicultural civilization that is multicultural and multispecies and that, as an archaeologist and linguist, that was his superpower is being able to pick up language and study and understand culture. So, already, he’s really far from Peter Quill, who’s much more like a John Carter type of character, who is almost more in the Western tradition.   R: He just shoulders his way through every situation.   K: I was gonna say like a bull in a china shop. Just, you know, dropped in and is going to behave and do the same thing no matter where they are and who’s around them.   R: Yeah, definitely no code switching from Peter Quill.    M: Yeah, and then in thinking about who each Max and Lahra were, I had to be smarter and more thorough about who the other were because I needed to have a sense of how they interacted with each other. Like, what does Lahra do when Max is at his workstation for hours and hours and hours poring through manuscripts and trying to translate things? Like, does she just leave him to do his own thing? Does she hang out with him? What would make sense? Because she’s a bodyguard, she grew up in this cultural paradigm from her mother that was very much about a dyadic relationship, but between charge and guardian. Well, how does that inform who she is as a partner in a relationship? She’s more likely to be the kind of partner who would hang out with you while you’re doing your thing to make it clear to you that she’s supporting what you’re doing, but she’s not like—   R: Invading it.   M: She’s not invading it, she’s not making it a thing that has to be about both of them. Okay, well, then how does Max react when Lahra is really upset about something? He’s more likely to be the person who wants to talk it out, but they’ve been together for long enough that he realizes that some of the things that he wants to do are not actually what Lahra needs, as a person. Because I’m writing this relationship between people who are adults and they’ve lived enough life and they’ve spent enough time with each other that they’ve come to understand one another’s rhythms. Writing that part of the relationship was really rewarding because I got to show the way that I can write in Max’s POV and characterize Lahra, while characterizing Max. Because then I can write in Lahra’s POV about Max, through her own POV and the places where how they see each other don’t exactly line up.    Then tell the reader that these are both unreliable narratives because this is tight third person, which has enough overlap with first person that you’re gonna get some of that unreliability. And you understand more of what that relationship needs by getting both of the two, each of their buy-in. In terms of where they see themselves, where they see their partner, where they have doubts and fears, and how that manifests in the way that they act and how it does and doesn’t manifest in how the other person sees them.   Because I don’t write the same scene from both POVs, but I do frequently write the sequel to a scene in the other partner’s POV. So that they’re reacting to the same stuff.   K: But, beyond even just Max and Lahra, then, we have Wheel. Who is, I won’t call her a third-party observer because that’s not the case, but is an outside perspective on a relationship and, inm any cases, the only outside perspective on a relationship.   M: Yeah, and she doesn’t have access to their interiority. Every relationship is different on the inside, even if you’re living with somebody else. You know, because maybe you overhear conversations, but you’re not having that same emotional experience. And so that was a little bit more of a place where I got to comment on the relationship from the outside, but also think about times where I have been the third wheel friend to a couple when they’re going through something. And Wheel is also very fun to write because she has a firmly developed self-image that is, to a certain degree, a protection against the way that things are. So she’s more of the curmudgeon character who makes a show of keeping people at arm’s length, but she could have kicked them out of the ship years ago and be doing something else. But she didn’t. Why is that? And she’s tied into other factions in the story and that tie also came later, because Wheel started out as more just, like, the Driver will get you from A to B.   Then it’s like, how does this technology work? Well, we’ve got these cyborgs and if they used to be an empire, why aren’t they in charge? Well, how are they still around? If you get overthrown, the people who overthrow you are going to try to keep you out of power as much as possible.   K, punny: Annihilate you, if you will.   [R giggles]   M: Yeah, so all of those worldbuilding questions, then, informed who the Atlan, Wheel’s people, who those people were. The cybernetics gives them the ability to engage with the warp drives, which is a little bit like how the Spice works in Dune, it’s a little bit like this, it’s a little bit like that. And that every time I went back into Wheel to either talk about how she’s seeing something else, or her position in this setting, engaging with factions on the Wreck or her own history as an even older, mature adult who’s been places and had relationships, every time I tried to fold in or think about some other topic, she grew more rounded as a person. That gave her even more different ways of engaging with Max and Lahra as characters.   K: Was there any evolution to Max and Lahra’s relationship? Did anything change as the story grew? Or did you always see them as two characters who love each other and are very happily married, but also have separate lives and separate goals that they’re working towards, and they’re going to help each other do this no matter what, but the more they help each other, the more they’re driving themselves apart?   M: I think the only time when I really had doubts about Max and Lahra was while I was writing the first draft because I had this premise and, following the fiction, I wanted to honor it enough to let there be the opportunity for maybe things to go bad for them. I, as a creator, had a specific type of outcome that I was shooting for, but I didn’t want to put my thumb on the scale so hard that I’m like, “Oh well! It doesn’t matter that these things happened, actually it’s gonna be Happily Ever After no matter what. Haha, I win.” Because that wouldn’t be, it wouldn’t be as strong of a work. It would feel like there was a cop-out.    So, because I had an outcome in mind, it was more about what in the world has to be different from where things were, maybe, at the middle of my first draft so that it made sense. That the choices that they made led them to where they were at the end of the book. Probably the biggest changes there happened when the group goes to someplace that’s really important to Lahra and her heritage. I’ll stay vague for readers so that they go and buy the book and read it! Because it’s great!   K: It’s a fantastic book. Everyone should go buy it and read it.   M: And then, basically, since I believe very firmly that people are informed by their circumstances, but not always 100 percent limited by them—there’s places where agency is limited in society and so on—   K: Mhm, yep.   M: But that, because people are informed by their circumstances, if I want a different character output, I can change the circumstances to put different pressures on them and to give them different experiences that let them reflect differently on what they feel about things. So it was kind of a feedback loop between who these characters are as I’m expressing it in the writing, trying to respect who they are as people, as I understand them, and then also applying different pressures and adjusting the pressures on them so that the story stays within the trajectory that I’m thinking. Because probably the first core of the story was them and their relationship, and other things kind of grew around that. And then the thematics emerged from how they, as characters, reacted with one another and then, looking backward, how all those things operate. So that any thematic clarity that a reader gets from Aria is not something that was on page one of my notes.   [51:07]    M: It’s because the process of creating it as the book people will read was development rehearsal practice, re-rehearsal, changing the arrangement, practicing again, changing the blocking. I’m using music metaphors here because I’ve done music and theater. Not only is the story entertaining, but it’s also, as much as possible, saying the things that I would like to say, or inviting the reader to reflect on the same themes and ideas that were what I was hoping for them to do. Because, and this is something I’ve talked about with Kaelyn pretty early on in the process was, this could have been several different books.   K: It’s, and it’s something—I always joke that when I’m reading through books I can tell what sections of it were written at the same time. Authors, you guys aren’t always as slick as you think you are. You leave fingerprints on a lot of things. That was something coming into this, that I could tell what chunks of this book had kind of been written at the start, what parts had been revised very heavily, but we spent a lot of time in the beginning talking about the thematic elements of this. But also, as you said, this book could have gone a lot of different directions. I think it went, I will go so far as to say, the correct direction. The, one of the best possible directions it could have gone.    But I can see that in reading this, especially reading some of the earlier drafts that I got. There were a lot of different things that could have happened in this story and happened to these characters. I think that speaks very highly of your worldbuilding and your ability to create and develop believable characters, is that I can see them dropped into different scenarios and just acting on their own accord. They’re an object in motion at that point, rather than something that you’re directing to do certain things. And that’s amazing. That’s a fantastic thing to be able to do as a writer.    M: Yeah, another way of thinking about it—and this is definitely informed by a video I was watching recently, a conversation between a couple of game designers—is that some of it is just down to tone.   K: Yes.   M: Two musicians can take the same song and go—one musician says, “Okay, cool, I’m going for the same tone but I’m gonna move the key.” Just moving the key actually changes more than you expect. It’s the moody, emo down-tempo version of a pop song?   R: Yup.   K: I was just gonna say, actually, I just discovered a cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Tori Amos which is—actually I discovered it because it was on one of Rekka’s playlists that she sent me and it’s fantastic. But it completely changes what you would maybe think the underlying context of the song would be. So yeah, I think, as I said when we started all of this, I would read anything that you set in this world. Especially if the characters are as engaging and compelling and dynamic as the ones that you’ve created for Aria because I see them as their own people rather than chess pieces being moved around on a board. They’re there to carry out actions that it doesn’t always feel like you, the author, are dictating to them. They’ve taken on a will of their own at this point.    M: And that is for the best because if they’re—on a list of writing traps that I know I can fall into, having something that feels a little bit more like action figures and choreography is definitely on that list. And so I have to respect the characters and go back and make sure that all of the circumstances and the worldbuilding acoustics, maybe?—to extend the music metaphor—that those line up so that things end up the way that I would like them to be.   K: So, along those lines, and we’re getting to the end here to start wrapping up, we like to ask our guests for advice or introspective or something you wish you could go back and tell Mike five years ago, when he was starting this whole process.        M: I’ve been working as a writer, now, long enough that 5 years ago is not the start of my career. Because it used to be, people would ask me, “What would you tell a younger self?” and it used to be about revision and what I learned about revision from the late, great Graham Joyce and Clarion West. But that was a lesson I learned 13 years ago now. So I think the lesson for 5 years ago Mike would be: start reading romance, you’re gonna really like it and it’s gonna teach you a lot about character relationships and getting drama and emotional investment for the reader out of just the very core relationships between people.    In a romance, people are also emergent from their circumstances and there’s lots of things you can do there, but that emotional action flywheel of Person A does a thing, you’re in Person B’s POV, so Person B first has a visceral, embodied reaction to what, to the emotionally-charged thing that was said, and then we’re in their perspective and their mind is racing and reflecting on something and, maybe, they’re going through an emotional journey about what’s going on. Maybe it makes them think about something, but not so long that you can’t then go back into scene and write about what they’re doing in reaction so that you’re able to kind of create this cycle of action and reaction, where it’s not just talking heads but we’re also getting all of this beat-by-beat dramatization of the emotional arc, the emotional rollercoaster of your POV character along the way.   And that approach was a lot of what I had to bring to Aria in successive drafts, especially as Kaelyn kept on poking me and saying like, “No! Unpack this more! Slow down!” Either to give the emotional rollercoaster or to paint with a finer brush the world around the characters. And that that process and that urging to slow down and unpack has been really great, it’s been fun to do. So it’s not like I’m being told I have to eat my vegetables, it’s—give yourself the situation and the platform on which you can then do these things that you really like doing, and you’re gonna be happier with the results.   K: I think, in my experience dealing with authors, there’s what I’ll call an overcorrection that writers tend to incorporate into their work, which is: I don’t wanna be the long-winded person here. I don’t wanna be the one that spends a paragraph describing the exact emotion that this character is feeling for 150 words. And there is certainly something to be said for being aware of that, but at the same time, I conversely always point out: you know how they’re feeling, you know what they’re thinking. You need to make sure that’s coming across to the reader. The reader doesn’t get access to your brain for this, they get access to the pieces of it that you’re putting in this book.   So, yeah. And part of it was very selfish. Part of this was: Well, hang on, I wanna know what’s going on here! Mike! Tell me! So it’s a—I really liked learning more about these characters as the book developed and I think you did an outstanding job.   M: That’s a very kind sentiment and I’m very grateful that you had that experience. Because that makes me feel very good as a writer.   R: What I also love about it is that you have put in all this work for character-building and worldbuilding, but the book reads as fast as any omnomnommable sci-fi book out there. It does not get burdened with—as much work as you put into it, it doesn’t show. You have seamless story going on. Even though Kaelyn can tell which spots you rewrote, no one who picks up this book—   K: I’ll never tell!   R: That’s Kaelyn’s superpower, that’s not indicative of what you’re going to feel as you read it. But it’s very fast-paced and, as you said, you worked very hard on the tension and it shows. It pulls the reader straight from the beginning to the end and it definitely leaves you wanting more, so I hope that the space opera series is going to continue for quite some time because whether it’s Max and Lahra and Wheel or, you know, Kruji getting their own book. I’d read them all.   K: Kruji absolutely needs their own book. The entire story of Annihilation Aria from the perspective of Kruji.   M: Well, I’ll write some books. And then twelve years after the series ends, I’ll come back and do the Kruji book. Because I’ve started a number of different series and the heartbreaking thing about publishing is it’s—   K, laughing: There’s only one!   M: It’s hard to justify writing something when I don’t see a market for it.   K: Yeah.   M: And so there are things that I would love to go back to, but right now the economic reality says, “Why would you do that? That’s a terrible idea!” So what I’m hoping for, with any given new series, is I hope that this finds enough of an audience that there is the demand to create the economic circumstances that will let me pursue that interest more. Because only now in the novel I just wrote, have I written something that I think actually could stay a stand alone. Everything else, I’m writing a world that I think I could do a lot more things in. I could do more things in this just finished novel’s world, but I want that novel to be able to stand on its own.   For the space operas, I would love to write more, and I will write more if the circumstances permit.   K: Yeah, it’s a very difficult thing for, not just writers but creators in general, to say: I am making this and it is a finite project that is done now.    R: Well you spend all that time living in that world!   K: Exactly, yeah.   R: And so you see all the corners where you’re like, “Oh! There’s someone down there. I gotta go follow that after I’m done with this.”   M: Yeah.   K: For instance, Kruji, who I feel like has a lot of very important stories to tell. Some perspectives and insights to offer the reader that is really going to enrich the story of the Kettle. So, uh, that’s—   M: Smart readers will be able to pick up some of the places where that could go in some chunks of the novel. And if you figure it out, email me on my website.   K: So, yes! Speaking of, Annihilation Aria is out a week from today! You still have time to pre-order the book and the audiobook, as well, is available for purchase. Mike, where can people find you online?   M: Sure, so my website is michaelrunderwood.com, that has kind of basic updates. I have a Patreon that you can find at Patreon.com/michaelrunderwood—    K: And it comes with a lot of pictures of a cute dog. Very cute dog. Highly recommend.   M: My dog, Oreo, is really the star of my Patreon and that’s fine. I know how the internet works.   [K laughs]   R, laughing: Yeah. Give the people what they want.   M: And if you’re listening to this, you like podcasts so I am an occasional guest-co-host on the Skiffy and Fanty show which is a general fannish podcast about books and movies and TV and so on. And I am a co-host on Speculate which is an actual play podcast starring science fiction-fantasy professionals. As of this recording, we’ve started a Blades in the Dark miniseries, I’m gonna start a Star Wars miniseries using the Scum and Villainy system and, sometime in the future, there may be some roleplaying in a world that listeners of this episode will now be familiar with. But more will come on that later on.   R: Hm.   K: That’s a nice teaser there. Okay. Well, Mike, thanks so much for talking to us. This was great! I mean, for as much as I’ve already gotten to hear about this, I never get tired of talking about this book and the characters and the process to get it to where it was.   M: Yeah, thank you very much. Because it’s written over such a long time, I am still processing all of the lessons and things. Like, “Oh! That really did take this thing!” or “This is where that actually comes from!” So that process, just by itself, is really rewarding for me and it’s fun to get to—to participate in this show that I have enjoyed as a listener.   R: Well thank you for that.   K: Thank you! Alright, well thanks again, Mike, and everyone for listening. We’ll talk to you in two weeks!   [outro music plays]   R: Thanks everyone for joining us for another episode of We Make Books. If you have any questions that you want answered in future episodes, or just have questions in general, remember you can find us on Twitter @wmbcast, same for Instagram. Or wmbcast.com!   If you find value in the content that we provide, we would really appreciate your support at Patreon.com/wmbcast. If you can’t provide financial support, we totally understand. And what you could really do to help us is spread the word about this podcast. You can do that by sharing a particular episode with a friend who can find it useful or if you leave a rating and review at iTunes, it will feed that algorithm and help other people find out podcast, too. Of course, you can always retweet our episodes on Twitter.   Thank you so much for listening and we will talk to you soon!      

On the road again! Nothing brings a group of friends together like a roap trip. And neon green murder lizards.   -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Ross, Bear, Lemon, and Finch orchestrate a business takeover using hostility and Spam. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Paddy Hutchinson and I prepare for the worst as we pull on some In-Brain Puppet Strings. An interesting move, we discuss a lot about the requirements for the move and how we make it sing at our table. This a fun ep, and it's stripped back from more of the deeply theoretical episodes we've had in the past. Some nice variety. The Hard Move was created by Matthew Gravelyn, and is hosted and produced by Sidney Icarus. You can follow the show on Twitter @TheHardMove. Music is by Nick Gravelyn. You can find his work at nickgravelyn.com You can follow Paddy on twitter @paddyhutcho, and at liberationindustries.net Content featured in this episode is from Apocalypse World 2nd Edition, written by Vincent and Meguey Baker, and produced by lumpley games. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thehardmove/support

Bear does all her own stunts. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

A bad decision a day keeps the doctor pretty much constantly in your life. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Public Space Travel Podcast Side Quest - S1 Ep 0: Lora We begin our PST actual play tabletop role playing series, where we'll play games to create, share, and explore society, culture, and politics through narrative story telling, with Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. In this "Episode 0," Mar(x), Lichen, Luci, Hunty, and Lazarus imagine a world of nature and technology, people and lion-people...and catsharks? Wild. Public Space Travel is a podcast dedicated to social/political critique, comedy, and education. Coming from an anti-hierarchy/oppression perspective, we aim for progressive/radical left solidarity with brothers/sisters/trans and non-binary folk of all stripes. Co Hosts this episode and where to follow them: Lazarus - @PSTLazarus Luci - @PSTLuci Lichen - Mar(x) - @PSTInTheShadows We want to discuss and examine topics (or interview people) that you want to hear about, as well as make corrections for things we’ve said. Reach out to us: PublicSpaceTravel@gmail.com Voice Mail: (208) 502-1406 Twitter: @PublicSpacePod You can support us with a small $5 pledge of solidarity on Patreon . We appreciate your support if you can afford to! Most importantly, we appreciate you listening! ------------------------------------------------------ Descriptive intro read by Johnny Lupinacci. Music used in descriptive intro is "Too Grimy" by Yung Kartz (licensed under a Creative Commons NC-ND 4.0 License, found on freemusicarchive.org)

The interrogation of Lemon, part II. Featuring familiar, but different, interrogators, and a crowbar. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Bear and Ross execute a rescue mission while Finch executes a stranger. Lemon interrogates her interrogators.   -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

What a lovely day for a walk through the shadowy realm of the pyschic between! -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Schedule for the day: Wake up. Breakfast. Catch up with friends. Light murder. Cook some drugs. End the day with inter-dimensional travel? -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

The lives of our protagonists are greatly improved by the reception of love letters from above. Did I say improved? I meant SIGNIFICANTLY WORSENED IN CRUEL AND UNUSUAL WAYS. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

What's the best kind of heist? You guessed it. A Winnebago heist. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Promo music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom. (Additional music licensed from GameDev Market, via the Humble Bundle.) For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Adrian Thoen and I prepare for the worst as we go OG and Go Aggro with Apocalypse World 1e and 2e. In this episode we discuss shifting agency of threats; bluffing and calling it; and how to do moves from "a distance". In our patreon release Adrian and I also talk about how Go Aggro can be played as an MC, and the evolution of PbtA moves over the years. Available at patreon.com/thehardmove. The Hard Move was created by Matthew Gravelyn, and is hosted and produced by Sidney Icarus. You can follow the show on Twitter @TheHardMove. Music is by Nick Gravelyn. You can find his work at nickgravelyn.com You can follow Adrian on Twitter at @madadric. Content featured in this episode is from Apocalypse World first and second editions, written by Vincent and Meguey Baker, and published by lumpley games. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thehardmove/support

Exit Pursued by a Member of Bear's Gang -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Our collection of riffraff, who are definitely NOT heroes, as it turns out, make a daring escape and then top off the evening with a nice relaxing game of "who's that dead guy?" -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt --  Check out Grahame's guest spot on Shadows of St. Fleur: https://shadows-of-saint-fleur.pinecast.co/ -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

The setting: A very charming southern parlor. The scene: several respectable individuals enjoying an evening of practical repartee on the matter of biscuits. And guns. This gun in fact. Which will not be fired in the final act. Why would it? There's no reason for violence. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Meguey Baker, Caleb Stokes, Clark Valentine, Edward LaValley. Teenagers bring innovation, creativity and hard questions to the game table. Our panelists will talk about how to hold space for everything that makes gaming with them magical.

If you aren't starting off your first day in a new city with a round of fisticuffs and a little B&E, then are you even a tourist?   -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Our heroes(?) at last arrive at Source! Now it's time to do what they do best. Discuss ornithology! No wait. Plan! No, hang on. I haven't known these guys very long, but that can't be it either. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Our mismatched crew of misfits hits in the road in quest for the mythical biscuit recipe! No challenge is great enough to stop them! Not even that guy...over there...buzzing in on his moped. -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Player Characters)

Four totally sane individuals walk into a bar after the apocalypse... -- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, cover photo by Peri, lettering by Tom For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt -- Content Warnings: Gun violence Knife violence Gang violence Cult behavior Car and motorcycle crashes Fictional drug use (Chrome) Child endangerment (Finch, one of the Players)

The head of a biker gang, an enigmatic child, a gun-lugging southern belle, and a cult leader walk into a bar. Maybe that sounds like the set up to a joke to you, but the apocalypse made our world a joke longer ago than any of us can remember.  Announcing the Role Less Taken podcast's second season: Roulette, an actual play Apocalypse World campaign run by our MC Mike. Everything kicks off when Lemon Dufresne (Peri) rolls into the city of Roulette seeking local help to reclaim an old family biscuit recipe. She hires Beatrice "Bear" Samuels (Megan), “the VP” His Holiness Lord Roadkill (a cat), and the Vultures bike gang, as well as the Happy Little People and their PBS-fueled leading artist Ross Roberts (Tom), and a quiet, unaffiliated young boy known only as Finch (Grahame) to come with her to the agricultural town of Source. But here, after the end of the world, it's the people who keep the most secrets that you can probably trust. ---- Game System: Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, http://apocalypse-world.com/ Music for this campaign by Megan, Cover art by Peri. For more information about the show, visit us at our Facebook page. Or, follow us on Instagram @therolelesstaken, Twitter @rolelesstaken, or at https://therolelesstaken.podbean.com/ Please leave us a rating or review at https://ratethispodcast.com/trlt

Monster Hearts 2. Edition Dedicated to Jackson Tegu and R. K. Mooney Writing and design by Avery Alder. Writing contributions on race and racism by Ciel Sainte Marie, James Mendez Hodes, and Jeeyon Shim Editing by Daniel Wood. With endless support from Jackson Tegu. Powered by the Apocalypse World engine, by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. With design support from Ross Cowman and Luke Jordan. The new rules for gaining experience borrowed from Dungeon World, by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. Titles in Yataghan, body in Fontin and Fontin Sans. 2017. Mail: max@piratenzender.de Twitter: @PiratenzenderDE / @Zhemni Youtube: Zhemni T.W.O. Lukas Twitter: @Bambooori Instagram: Bambooori

Monster Hearts 2. Edition Dedicated to Jackson Tegu and R. K. Mooney Writing and design by Avery Alder. Writing contributions on race and racism by Ciel Sainte Marie, James Mendez Hodes, and Jeeyon Shim Editing by Daniel Wood. With endless support from Jackson Tegu. Powered by the Apocalypse World engine, by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. With design support from Ross Cowman and Luke Jordan. The new rules for gaining experience borrowed from Dungeon World, by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. Titles in Yataghan, body in Fontin and Fontin Sans. 2017. Mail: max@piratenzender.de Twitter: @PiratenzenderDE / @Zhemni Youtube: Zhemni T.W.O. Lukas Twitter: @Bambooori Instagram: Bambooori

Listen, subscribe & review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts. Sign up to our newsletter! This episode is also available in video on YouTube. This month's panel is the sort of panel that I created "The Rolistes Present…" for. It offers a unique insight on the tabletop RPG community in a European country and, who knows, might lead to the development of coll future interactions (I am crossing fingers for my guest to join us in London for Dragonmeet in 2020). To take us to the shores of Lusitania our guides will be: Especuatório/Rubber Chicken Games – Daniel Carvalho (He/Him)Published author by Edita-me and RPG writer for Especulatório and Rubber Chicken Games. Member of the portuguese RPG broadcasting platform Rola Iniciativa, and the creator of games such as Asilo, A Dinner to Die For and The Darkest Side.RPGénesis – Claudia Silva (She/Her)Started RPing and GMing in 1997. Created and admins the Portuguese RPG Discord Server – RPG Portugal, and admins its sister community on Facebook. Is the creator of the first Portuguese RPG-design jam RPGénesis, which first ran in August 2010. Has been an editor for White Wolf, supplied art for indie RPGs and supplements, as well as written an entire supplement about villains that ended up never being published. Is still quite sad about that. Is Lead Writer for the UK-based LARP Death Unto Darkness. Has created the RPGs “Drama Gakuen”, “Generation Hex”, “Senryaku” and “Phonomancer”.Rola Iniciativa – André Tavares (He/Him)André is a producer and content creator at Rola Iniciativa platform, being the most notorious show Roll for Diplomacy where André already interview RPG designers such as Adam Koebel, Luke Crane, John Harper and the Bakers. He's the co-owner of Maré Baixa, an independent tabletop game publisher, counting with a couple of small games published, such as Tower of Arcana, Dungeon Heart and The Orc and the Pie. André is also the founder of Rolisboa, the Portuguese RPG convention, and ultimately he gives the best hugs. I renez my call to my panellists, tabletop RPG authors and fans from Portugal to visit us in London for Dragonmeet 2020. If you are yourself already in London, please consider joining our our next monthly “London Le Drinks & Dices” at Bad Moon Cafe every first Wednesday of the month. Kalum Listen, rate or review the show on Podchaser, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also download the episode. Please consider contributing to my Patreon, making a modest donation via Paypal or even support your show at no extra cost via your purchases on DriveThru RPG. Newsletter: Subscribe hereEmail: Rolistespod@gmail.comTwitter/Instagram/Tik Tok: @rolistespodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/RolistespodWebsite: https://rolistespod.wordpress.com/ The Rolistes Podcast by Kalum is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. LogoThe Rolistes Podcast brand new logo by Rollin Kunz. Please check his excellent work at https://www.rollinkunz.com. Merchandising, including t-shirts, with the logo and many more cool “The Rolistes Podcast” art by Rolin Kunz is available via our TeePublic store. MusicTheme song: "Life Is A Game (Instrumental)" by MiseAvailable for free download at http://freemusicarchive.org/ Tabletop RPGs & games"Dungeons & Dragons Red Box" by TSR"Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition" and "Dungeons & Dragons 5 Edition" by Wizards of the Coast"Vampire the Masquerade" by Modiphius"Call of Cthulhu" by Sandy Petersen & Lynn Willis for Chaosium"Cthulhu Dark" by Graham Walmsley"Pathfinder" by Paizo"“Chronicles of Darkness" by Onyx Path Publishing"Powered by the Apocalypse aka Apocalypse Game Engine" by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker"Cyberpunk" and "Cybergeneration (2nd Edition)" by R. Talsorian Games"Legend of the Five Rings" by Fantasy Flight Games"World of Darkness", "Vampire: the Masquerade 2nd Edition" and "Vampire: the Masquerade: Revised Edi...

Monster Hearts 2. Edition Dedicated to Jackson Tegu and R. K. Mooney Writing and design by Avery Alder. Writing contributions on race and racism by Ciel Sainte Marie, James Mendez Hodes, and Jeeyon Shim Editing by Daniel Wood. With endless support from Jackson Tegu. Powered by the Apocalypse World engine, by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. With design support from Ross Cowman and Luke Jordan. The new rules for gaining experience borrowed from Dungeon World, by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. Titles in Yataghan, body in Fontin and Fontin Sans. 2017. Mail: max@piratenzender.de Twitter: @PiratenzenderDE / @Zhemni Youtube: Zhemni T.W.O. Lukas Twitter: @Bambooori Instagram: Bambooori

Monster Hearts 2. Edition Dedicated to Jackson Tegu and R. K. Mooney Writing and design by Avery Alder. Writing contributions on race and racism by Ciel Sainte Marie, James Mendez Hodes, and Jeeyon Shim Editing by Daniel Wood. With endless support from Jackson Tegu. Powered by the Apocalypse World engine, by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. With design support from Ross Cowman and Luke Jordan. The new rules for gaining experience borrowed from Dungeon World, by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. Titles in Yataghan, body in Fontin and Fontin Sans. 2017. Mail: max@piratenzender.de Twitter: @PiratenzenderDE / @Zhemni Youtube: Zhemni T.W.O. Lukas Twitter: @Bambooori Instagram: Bambooori

Dirk and David chat with Meguey Baker about her tabletop RPG Apocalypse World and writing in general. The discussion covers Apocalypse World’s approach to the post-apocalyptic theme and how the writing and mechanical design helps players feel like they are the movers and shakers with a vision to change their post-apocalyptic world.

Quattro tecniche narrative prese da quattro giochi di ruolo indie, utili per fare descrizioni migliori e applicabili in tutti i giochi di ruolo. Da un’idea di Mauro Ghibaudo. Scaletta [00:18] Introduzione [02:15] One Can Have Her [04:12] In a Wicked Age [05:59] Mille e una notte [07:31] octaNe [09:36] Conclusione Link MorgenGabe; Simone Micucci; “Giù lo Schermo”; “Gente che gioca”; Mauro Ghibaudo; One Can Have Her; Jonas Ferry; In a Wicked Age; D. Vincent Baker; Mille e una notte; Meguey Baker; octaNe; Jared A. Sorensen. Crediti Voce, editing audio e grafica: Daniele Di Rubbo. Ideazione: Mauro Ghibaudo. Copertina: Foto di Clark Young. Font: “La Belle Aurore” di Kimberly Geswein. Contatti E-mail: info@geeckoontheair.eu. Patreon: patreon.com/geeckoontheair.

Odpowiadamy na Wasze pytania i dzielimy się tajnymi informacjami z naszego życia.Sprostowania odniośnie do (przynajmniej kilku) osób i ich zapomnianych imion:- Autorem "The Riftwar Cycle" i innych książek dziejacych się w Midkemii jest Reymond E. Feist.- K. M. Weiland prowadzi bloga https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com, a także jest autorką wielu różnych książek i zdobywczynią wielu nagród za te książki.- Żona Vincenta Bakera ma imię. Nazywa się Meguey Baker.

Seconda partita di Fantasmi assassini (D. Vincent Baker, 2011¹; edizione italiana: Narrattiva, 2012), giocata da Daniele Di Rubbo (MC) e Antonio Amato (altro giocatore), e registrata in occasione della prima edizione della Ianus 2D (19-20 gennaio 2019). Data di registrazione: 19 gennaio 2019. Link: Ianus 2D 1ª edizione (19-20 gennaio 2019); Murderous Ghosts (D. Vincent Baker, 2011¹; D. Vincent Baker e Meguey Baker, 2017²); Fantasmi assassini (D. Vincent Baker, 2011¹; edizione italiana: Narrattiva, 2012); Powered by the Apocalypse; Monarchs (carte da gioco). Crediti Voci: Daniele Di Rubbo (MC) e Antonio Amato (altro giocatore). Editing audio e grafica: Daniele Di Rubbo. Elementi grafici: “Person Riding on Vehicle” di Emre Kuzu. Font: “Downcome” © 2002 Eduardo Recife. Contatti E-mail: info@geeckoontheair.eu Patreon: patreon.com/geeckoontheair

Prima partita di Fantasmi assassini (D. Vincent Baker, 2011¹; edizione italiana: Narrattiva, 2012), giocata da Daniele Di Rubbo (MC) e Antonio Amato (altro giocatore), e registrata in occasione della prima edizione della Ianus 2D (19-20 gennaio 2019). Data di registrazione: 19 gennaio 2019. Link: Ianus 2D 1ª edizione (19-20 gennaio 2019); Murderous Ghosts (D. Vincent Baker, 2011¹; D. Vincent Baker e Meguey Baker, 2017²); Fantasmi assassini (D. Vincent Baker, 2011¹; edizione italiana: Narrattiva, 2012). Crediti Voci: Daniele Di Rubbo (MC) e Antonio Amato (altro giocatore). Editing audio e grafica: Daniele Di Rubbo. Elementi grafici: “Person Riding on Vehicle” di Emre Kuzu. Font: “Downcome” © 2002 Eduardo Recife. Contatti E-mail: info@geeckoontheair.eu Patreon: patreon.com/geeckoontheair

Join Sam, Schrag, Jade, and Dora as we finish our game of In Dreaming Avalon by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. What orchard is this, we fairies, we knights, in which we meet? It is the orchard of Dreaming Avalon. Iorweth Glasscock is played by Sam. Sir Edward is played by Schrag. Quixote is played by Jade. Sir Parker is played by Dora. Produced by @harpydora. "Please wake up" by Meydän. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ftlcast Episode summaries available here: https://goo.gl/3nXVpA Cover image by @sacalow and original music by @mercutioes

Join Sam, Schrag, Jade, and Dora as we finish our game of In Dreaming Avalon by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. What orchard is this, we fairies, we knights, in which we meet? It is the orchard of Dreaming Avalon. Iorweth Glasscock is played by Sam. Sir Edward is played by Schrag. Quixote is played by Jade. Sir Parker is played by Dora. Produced by @harpydora. "Please wake up" by Meydän. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ftlcast Episode summaries available here: https://goo.gl/3nXVpA Cover image by @sacalow and original music by @mercutioes

Join Sam, Schrag, Jade, and Dora as we play In Dreaming Avalon by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. What orchard is this, we fairies, we knights, in which we meet? It is the orchard of Dreaming Avalon. Iorweth Glasscock is played by Sam. Sir Edward is played by Schrag. Quixote is played by Jade. Sir Parker is played by Dora. Produced by @harpydora. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ftlcast Episode summaries available here: https://goo.gl/3nXVpA Cover image by @sacalow and original music by @mercutioes

Join Sam, Schrag, Jade, and Dora as we play In Dreaming Avalon by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker. What orchard is this, we fairies, we knights, in which we meet? It is the orchard of Dreaming Avalon. Iorweth Glasscock is played by Sam. Sir Edward is played by Schrag. Quixote is played by Jade. Sir Parker is played by Dora. Produced by @harpydora. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ftlcast Episode summaries available here: https://goo.gl/3nXVpA Cover image by @sacalow and original music by @mercutioes

Palacine’s Jamie is out of town, so we can’t play Masks. Instead Kaylee, Ember-Jamie, and I blast through a one-shot session of Psi-Run, by Meguey Baker. It delivers.

The Holly and The Ivy by Meguey Baker is a short wishing game appearing in her collection Playing Nature's Year, which is available in print and PDF at: http://nightskygames.com/welcome/game/PlayingNaturesYear From the game text: "It is Solstice Morning. In an hour, the great white stag will run through your county, trailing the rising sun in his wake. If you can catch him, you may make a wish. This is your own heart's wish — there are no characters here, only players, so chose wisely." This session is part of the Gauntlet Hangouts, which you can learn more about here: http://gauntlet-rpg.com Playing Nature's Year is discussed on episode 43 of the Gauntlet Podcast: https://gauntletpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-43-meguey-baker

Ragionamenti ad alta voce sulla creazione di (Be)Witch, il gioco di ruolo col quale partecipo alla 200 Word RPG Challenge 2018. In questa puntata parlo delle fonti d’ispirazione che mi hanno guidato nella scrittura del gioco. Scaletta: [00:18] Introduzione [01:47] 1. Il college triangle [02:42] 2. Apocalypse World [03:26] 3. A Scoundrel in the Deep [04:16] 4. Les petites choses oubliées [05:14] 5. Walls of Concordia [05:57] Conclusione Link: (Be)Witch 200 Word RPG Challenge 2018 Geecko on the Wall GnoccoCON 2018 Apocalypse World (1ª edizione: D. Vincent Baker, 2010; 2ª edizione: D. Vincent Baker e Meguey Baker, 2016) A Scoundrel in the Deep (Renato Ramonda e Flavio Mortarino, 2014) Worlds Without Master (a cura di Epidiah Ravachol, 2013-oggi) Les petites choses oubliées (Sylvie Guillaume e Christoph Boeckle, 2015) Walls of Concordia Crediti Voce, testi, editing audio e grafica: Daniele Di Rubbo Elementi grafici: “Notebook on blue wood table” di Fwstudio (freepik.com) “Witch hat” di Freepik (flaticon.com) “Halloween pentagram” di Freepik (flaticon.com) Font: “Itim” © 2015 Cadson Demak Contatti E-mail: info@geeckoontheair.eu Patreon: patreon.com/geeckoontheair

Le prime impressioni di Marco e Daniele il giorno dopo la loro prima partita di Bluebeard’s Bride (Whitney “Strix” Beltrán, Marissa Kelly e Sarah Richardson, 2017), un gioco di ruolo Powered by the Apocalypse di orrore femminile edito da Magpie Games. Queste sono le prime impressioni di Marco Andreetto e di Daniele Di Rubbo riguardanti la partita giocata il 19 novembre 2017 presso il Laser Game Cremonese e originariamente registrate il giorno seguente. Scaletta: [00:18] Introduzione [02:31] Inizio impressioni di Marco [03:42] Preparazione e creazione dei personaggi [06:39] Cuore del gioco [8:38] Stanze, Groundkeeper e tono [09:39] Finale della partita [11:39] Rigiocabilità e conclusioni [13:25] Inizio impressioni di Daniele [13:44] Ruolo del Groundkeeper [14:36] Economia del trauma [15:20] Considerazioni generali [16:30] Atmosfera [16:53] Finale Link: Apocalypse World II (Il mondo dell’apocalisse II; D. Vincent Baker e Meguey Baker, 2016²) Bluebeard’s Bride (Kickstarter) Dreamlord Press Barbablù (Wikipedia) Cappuccetto Rosso (Wikipedia) Swords Without Master (Epidiah Ravachol, 2014) Bluebeard’s Bride (GDR Unplugged) Kagematsu (Danielle Lewon, 2009) Dungeon World (Sage LaTorra e Adam Koebel, 2012) Monster of the Week (Il mostro della settimana; Michael Sands, 2012) Crediti Voci: Daniele Di Rubbo e Marco Andreetto Grafica ed editing audio: Daniele Di Rubbo Elementi grafici: Copertina di Bluebeard’s Bride © 2017 Magpie Games. Font: “Itim” © 2015 Cadson Demak. Contatti E-mail: info@geeckoontheair.eu Patreon: patreon.com/geeckoontheair

This week it's another two player game, with Christine and Austin playing Murderous Ghosts! A youtuber who explores supposedly haunted abandoned spaces takes on an old hotel and gets more than she bargained for. Murderous Ghosts is by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker You can follow us on Twitter here, or email us at YouDontMeetInAnInn@gmail.com You can also like our Facebook page or subreddit for regular updates. If you'd like to support the podcast please rate and review us on iTunes, or share us with your friends on social media!

Daniele Fusetto di “Storie di Ruolo” ci parla di Haiku Rebels Society, il gioco col quale partecipa alla 200 Word RPG Challenge 2018. In questa puntata spiega come gli è venuto in mente di scriverlo e che cosa si nasconde sotto al cofano del gioco. Scaletta: [00:18] Presentazione [02:20] Premessa e ambientazione [03:59] Rimandi storici [06:10] Il “giocatore speciale” [08:08] Espandere il gioco [08:46] Come funziona [10:19] Giocare con gli haiku [14:33] Gli outcome [16:02] Il limite delle 200 parole Link: Haiku Rebels Society Daniele Fusetto (“Storie di Ruolo”) Rivolta di Shimabara (Wikipedia) Apocalypse World (1ª ed.: D. Vincent Baker, 2010; 2ª ed: D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker, 2016; 1ª ed. italiana: Il Mondo dell’Apocalisse, Narrattiva, 2011; 2ª ed. italiana: AW II: Il Mondo dell’Apocalisse, Narrattiva, 2017) Fiasco (Jason Morningstar, 2009; ed. italiana: Janus Design, 2009; GG Studio, 2016) Archipelago (Matthijs Holter, 2007¹, 2009², 2012³; ed. italiana: Mammut RPG, 2018) Lupus in Tabula (Domenico Di Giorgio, 2009) Werewolf (Dimitry Davidoff, 1986) Sì, Oscuro Signore! (Fabrizio Bonifacio e Massimiliano Enrico, 2005¹) Haiku (Wikipedia) Crediti Voce e testi: Daniele Fusetto Editing audio e grafica: Daniele Di Rubbo Elelementi grafici: “Blooming cherry tree branch background” di Freepik (freepik.com) Font: “Alegreya” © 2011 Juan Pablo del Peral “Alegreya Sans” © 2013 Juan Pablo del Peral Contatti E-mail: info@geeckoontheair.eu Patreon: patreon.com/geeckoontheair

Atitlan Riders is a modern Mayan tuk fast tuk furious coming-of-age game Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), an RPG framework created by Vincent and Meguey Baker. You play young play in their daily lives in the Guatemalan town Santiago Atitlan. They also have secret identities as tuk tuk drivers going on races to decide about important things in their lives. But overall, the struggle to live the life they want. If you want to learn more about the game read about it on my blog or directly get in touch with me. Playmaterial can be found on the bottom of the linked article: https://alles-ist-zahl.blogspot.de/2018/03/atitlan-riders-central-american.html

Our friend and regular player here on the Perilous Pretenders podcast, David Miessler-Kubanek, has been working on a design "hack" of the independent role playing game, Psi-Run, which can purchase over at the Night Sky Games website. Night Sky Games are run by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker (Vincent is best known for his role playing game, Apocalypse World, whose game engine many indie games have incorporated into their own game designs, called Powered by the Apocalypse). In this version of the game, instead of amnesiac people with psychic powers running from the chasers, you are a group of Victorian era people with some connection to the "deceased." Instead of running from The Chasers, you are running from your own internal struggle with the Night, which in this game represents the connection to the darker side of humanity, occult powers, and losing your soul to darkness within yourself. If you are interested in helping David out with playtesting this game or want to contact him about the future of Night Mirror, here is his email address: dmkcreative@gmail.com Buy Psi-Run: http://nightskygames.com/welcome/game/PsiRun Support us on Patreon for bonus games and extra content!: Tweet about us using the hastag #perilouspretenders for a chance to be entered in a drawing to have your name be used for an upcoming NPC on the podcast! Twitter: https://twitter.com/perilouspretend Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/perilouspretenders/ Tumblr: https://perilouspretenders.tumblr.com/

Atitlan Riders is a modern Mayan tuk fast tuk furious coming-of-age game Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), an RPG framework created by Vincent and Meguey Baker. You play young play in their daily lives in the Guatemalan town Santiago Atitlan. They also have secret identities as tuk tuk drivers going on races to decide about important things in their lives. But overall, the struggle to live the life they want. If you want to learn more about the game read about it on my blog or directly get in touch with me. Playmaterial can be found on the bottom of the linked article: https://alles-ist-zahl.blogspot.de/2018/03/atitlan-riders-central-american.html

Our friend and regular player here on the Perilous Pretenders podcast, David Miessler-Kubanek, has been working on a design "hack" of the independent role playing game, Psi-Run, which can purchase over at the Night Sky Games website. Night Sky Games are run by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker (Vincent is best known for his role playing game, Apocalypse World, whose game engine many indie games have incorporated into their own game designs, called Powered by the Apocalypse). In this version of the game, instead of amnesiac people with psychic powers running from the chasers, you are a group of Victorian era people with some connection to the "deceased." Instead of running from The Chasers, you are running from your own internal struggle with the Night, which in this game represents the connection to the darker side of humanity, occult powers, and losing your soul to darkness within yourself. If you are interested in helping David out with playtesting this game or want to contact him about the future of Night Mirror, here is his email address: dmkcreative@gmail.com

Atitlan Riders is a modern Mayan tuk fast tuk furious coming-of-age game Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), an RPG framework created by Vincent and Meguey Baker. You play young play in their daily lives in the Guatemalan town Santiago Atitlan. They also have secret identities as tuk tuk drivers going on races to decide about important things in their lives. But overall, the struggle to live the life they want. If you want to learn more about the game read about it on my blog or directly get in touch with me. Playmaterial can be found on the bottom of the linked article: https://alles-ist-zahl.blogspot.de/2018/03/atitlan-riders-central-american.html

Powered by the Apocalypse: Using Apocalypse World to Outline and Draft Your Own RPG  Special episode, recorded online. Presented by Meguey Baker, Vincent Baker, and Jason Pitre. Apocalypse World offers a powerful, flexible framework you can use to outline, draft, and potentially finish your own role playing games. Dozens of creators, both experienced designers and first-timers, have used it with great success, and you can too. It’s not a game system, it’s an easy approach to game system design, a reliable way to get your creative vision quickly into a playable form. In this episode, we discuss apocalypse World’s philosophy and foundation, describe the fit and purpose of each of its systems, and point out fruitful ways to build on them, contradict them, repurpose them, subvert them, and go far beyond them. A copy of the presentation that goes along with the episode is Available Here. This panel was originally presented at Metatopia 2016, but technical problems at the audio meant that we had to re-record the discussion. It’s an excellent one though, where we discuss issues of the structure behind apocalypse, where the heavy design work needs to happen, the decision points on move construction, and how consent/power fit into the context of the framework. Enjoy and share this episode freely! You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 119: Powered by the Apocalypse Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1142)  

013 - Driving Games Crazy Recorded April 14, 2017    01:17 Fallen Empires by Vincent Baker   02:25 Dungeon World by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel   02:46 Golden Sky Stories by Ryo Kamiya   04:31 Apocalypse World by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker   08:08 Fall of Magic by Ross Cowman   11:57 Lost in the Rain by Vivien Feasson   21:18 The Spirit of 77 by David Kizzia and Bob Richardson   25:13 Ten Candles by Stephen Dewey   34:27 Dread by Epidiah Ravachol   34:49 Maschine Zeit by Machine Age Productions   37:54 The Sprawl by Hamish Cameron   47:46 Monsterhearts 2 by Avery Alder   55:49 Vampire: The Masquerade by Whitewolf Games   55:58 Tremulus by Sean Preston   56:33 Everyone is John   57:17 Are You Mental? By Robert Turk   62:35 Summerland by Greg Saunders   71:39 Penny for My Thoughts by Paul Tevis   75:54 When the Dark is Gone by Becky Annison   76:44 Don’t Rest Your Head by Fred Hicks   78:50 Don’t Lose Your Mind by Benjamin Baugh   PLUGS Our podcast is at http://itslikednd.ca Check out Kate’s blog Bluestockings at http://bluestockings.ca Check out Rach and Rob’s blog ‘Thac0s at Midnight’ at http://thacos.com If you want to ask us a question or have a topic you think we should discuss, please send an e-mail to info@itslikednd.ca Our intro song is Energy by Bensound.com  

To celebrate one year of Backstory, Alex brings on indie legends and Apocalypse World co-creators Meguey and D. Vincent Baker. Topics range from sex education to censorship to masonic initiation ceremonies and quilt preservation - and yes, it's all related to game design. Lumpley Games Vincent on G+ Meg on G+ Apocalypse World Urban Shadows Monsterhearts Monster of the Week The King is Dead The Princes' Kingdom Shadowrun Cyberpunk 2020 Ars Magica Our Whole Lives The Vengeful Demon of the Ring "Games as Folk Art" on Indie+ Dogs in the Vineyard Shock: Social Science Fiction Beloved MASHED Dialect The Play Generated Map & Document Archive

It’s Like DnD 004 - RPG Every Day This episode was recorded on August 15th, 2016 RPG A DAY RPG a Day http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/ September 25th - What makes for a good character? September 10th - Largest in-game surprise you have experienced? Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game by Greg Costikyan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Roleplaying_Game Apocalypse World by Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker http://apocalypse-world.com/ Urban Shadows by Andrew Medeiros http://www.magpiegames.com/our-games/urban-shadows/ Don’t Rest Your Head by Fred Hicks http://www.evilhat.com/home/dont-rest-your-head-2/ September 13th - What makes a successful campaign. Bubblegumshoe by Emily Care Boss, Kenneth Hite, and Lisa Steele http://www.evilhat.com/home/bubblegumshoe/ Monsterhearts by Avery Alder http://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts/ FALL OF MAGIC Jiffycon by Emily Care Boss http://jiffycon.blogspot.ca/ Fall of Magic by Ross Cowman http://heartofthedeernicorn.com/product/fall-of-magic-scroll-edition/ Sentinels of the Multiverse by Christopher Badell, Adam Rebottaro, Paul Bender https://sentinelsofthemultiverse.com/ GEN CON JEALOUSY Andrew Medeiros http://www.northfiregames.com/ Epyllion by Marissa Kelly http://www.magpiegames.com/epyllion/ Fate of the Norns by Andrew Valkauskas http://www.fateofthenorns.com/ ENnie Awards http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/ IDGN Groundbreaker Awards http://www.igdnonline.com/indie-groundbreaker-awards/ Diana Jones Award http://www.dianajonesaward.org/ Eric Lang http://www.ericmlang.com/ Cat Tobin, Pelgrane Press http://pelgranepress.com 183 Days by Sara Williamson and James Stuart http://www.drivethrucards.com/product/144510/183-Days Snow White by Jonathan G. Nelson http://adventureaweek.com/ A Real Game by Caitlynn Belle http://caitlynnbelle.com/?page_id=300 If I Ran The Zoo Con by Leslie Turek, et. al http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/TurekRunCon-4.htm Singularity by Caitlynn Belle and Josh Jordan http://caitlynnbelle.com/?page_id=323 (Josh, so sorry I blanked on your name when we were recording! - Rob) Invisible Sun by Monte Cook Games http://invisiblesunrpg.com/ Star Wars: Edge of the Empire by Dave Allen, Shawn Carman and Jay Little of Fantasy Flight Games https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/star-wars-edge-of-the-empire/ Burning Wheel Luke Crane https://www.burningwheel.com/ Burning Wheel Codex Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/burningwheel/the-burning-wheel-codex/description Hillfolk by Robin Laws http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/hillfolk/ Deliria by Phil Brucato https://www.patreon.com/philbrucato The Gamers Movie by Dead Gentlemen Productions http://deadgentlemen.com/projects/the-gamers-series/the-gamers/ Velvet Glove: Notebook Edition by Sarah Richardson http://www.magpiegames.com/product/velvet-glove-notebook-edition-printpdf/ The Veil: Cyberpunk RPG by Fraser Simons https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/samjokopublishing/the-veil-cyberpunk-rpg Cartel by Mark Diaz Truman http://www.magpiegames.com/cartel-ashcan-edition/ Night Witches by Jason Morningstar http://bullypulpitgames.com/games/night-witches/ SOME OTHER TOPICS Simple Superheroes by Joshua Kitz http://www.composedreamgames.com/pages/simplesuperheroes.php The Starlit Kingdom by Anna Kreider http://browserbeware.com/games/ Fraser Ronald on Book Signing http://swordsedge.ca/2016/03/signage/ Hope Inhumanity by Derek Gour https://hope-inhumanity.com/ PLUGS Our podcast is at http://itslikednd.ca Check out Kate’s blog Bluestockings at http://bluestockings.ca Check out Rach and Rob’s blog ‘Thac0s at Midnight’ at http://thacos.com Connect with us in our G+ Community! Best way to get there is http://itslikednd.ca/g+ or http://itslikednd.ca/gplus Check out Sparkle Dice Alliance at http://sparkledice.com Breakout Gaming Convention is March 10-12! Go to http://breakoutcon.com for more information about the convention! #BreakoutCon Theme music is Gorilla Foot by The Itchy Creeps http://members.shaw.ca/happypuppyrecords/

Les Aventureux se préparent à devoir fuir l'imagination cruellement prolifique de Carine lors d'une partie de Psi*Run, un jeu de Meguey Baker. Or, avant de se faire gentiment torturer, ils jettent ensemble un coup d’œil aux règles et font les premiers pas vers une aventure qui s'annonce haute en couleur.

It’s Like DnD 001 - Road Trip!   00:20 What have we backed on Kickstarter? Kate backed The Veil: Cyberpunk RPG by Fraser Simons http://samjoko.storenvy.com/ Rob backed Threadbare RPG by Stephanie Bryant - http://www.threadbarerpg.com/ Rach backed Red Markets by Caleb Stokes - http://hebanon.blogspot.ca/ 00:37 The Veil 02:25 The Spark by Jason Pitre 02:30 Apocalypse World by Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker 04:15 Urban Shadows by Andrew Medeiros and Mark Diaz Truman 7:15 The Sprawl: Cyberpunk Roleplaying by Hamish Cameron 8:00 Dream Askew by Avery McDaldno 8:45 The Watch by Anna Kreider and Andrew Medeiros 10:30 Threadbare RPG 11:30 +1 Forward’s podcast by Rich Rogers.http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/1-forward/threadbare-rpg 12:00 Golden Sky Stories by Ryo Kamiya translated by Ewen Cluney 14:00 Laser Kittens by Cheyenne Wall-Grimes and Stentor Danielson 15:15 Red Markets 15:45 Summerland by Greg Saunders 19:45 The Sociology of D&D by Matthew Colville, https://youtu.be/EHUCi6ZbVxU   23:40 Road Trip to Jiffy Con! JiffyCon West MA, Hampshire College in Amherst, June 11, 2016! http://jiffycon.blogspot.ca/   25:00 Robert Bohl, Emily Care Boss, Epidiah Ravachol, Hannah Shaffer 25:10 Noirlandia by Evan Rowland and Hannah Shaffer 26:00 Fall of Magic by Ross Cowman 26:20 Ten Candles by Stephen Dewey 27:30 Dungeons & Dragons by the Wizards of the Coast team 27:40 Star Wars by the Fantasy Flight team 28:00 Dungeons & Dragons Adventurers League 29:10 Masks by Brendan G. Conway 30:00 Anna Kreider’s Blog Go Make Me a Sandwich, www.patreon.com/gmmas Specifically the Pathfinder posts: https://gomakemeasandwich.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/ https://gomakemeasandwich.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/ https://gomakemeasandwich.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/ 30:23 The Ruined Empire by Anna Kreider 30:23 401 Games, http://store.401games.ca/   30:45 Games To Play On A Roadtrip! Rob wants to play Ribbon Drive by Avery McDaldno, http://buriedwithoutceremony.com/ribbon-drive/ Rach wants to play Amidst Endless Quiet by Ben Lehman, http://www.tao-games.com/amidst-endless-quiet/ Kate wants to play A Penny for My Thoughts by Paul Tevis, http://www.evilhat.com/home/a-penny-for-my-thoughts/   31:45 Ribbon Drive 34:30 Amidst Endless Quiet 38:45 Fiasco by Jason Morningstar 39:00 The Hour between Dog & Wolf by Matthew Gwinn 39:30 A Penny for my Thoughts Plugs!   Check out the podcast at http://itslikednd.ca Check out Kate’s blog Bluestockings at http://bluestockings.ca Check out Rach and Rob’s blog ‘Thac0s at Midnight’ at http://thacos.com If you want to play Roleplaying Games in Toronto check out these events: June 12th - TAG’s June RPG Meetup http://torontoareagamers.com/rpg July 9th - TAG’s 10th Birthday! http://torontoareagamers.com/birthday September 1-4th - Fan Expo Canada’s RPG Track! http://fanexpocanada.com/gaming March 10 - 12th - Breakout 2017 http://breakoutcon.com/   Connect with us in our brand new G+ Community! Best way to get there is http://itslikednd.ca/g+ or http://itslikednd.ca/gplus   Theme music is Gorilla Foot by The Itchy Creeps http://members.shaw.ca/happypuppyrecords/

This week we are joined by the awesomely talented and inspirational Meg Baker!    Play ListMonster of the Week (00:40)Freebooting Venus (4:13)The Dread Geas of Duke Vulku (09:26)Lacuna (12:04) Giving Me LifeMuseum & Game Design (14:50)Rich! (17:20)Her Story (17:58) Interview Segment Playing Nature's Year (20:33)Cider that definitely won't kill you (26:26)Emotion and vulnerability in games (27:49)New game cycle (36:00)Apocalypse World 2E (38:52)The Final Question (46:16)   Night Sky Games: http://www.nightskygames.com Lumpley Games: http://www.lumpley.com Unruly Designs: http://www.unrulydesigns.com The Gauntlet: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104672702589306017985 Twitter: @GauntletRPG

This week, Epidiah Ravachol talks with us about Worlds Without Master, running the long con to get players for the games you're interested in, and the myriad joys of accounting. Here are the links for the final question:Dan: http://i.imgur.com/goe7Ue3.jpgEppy: http://www.toomuchjoy.com/index.php/music-2/finally-1996/ Games discussed: Everything in Worlds Without Master (Swords without Master, Wolfspell, Enter the Avenger, Sorceress Bloody Sorceress, A Scoundrel in the Deep, Invisible Empire, No Longer with Us, Masks of the Mummy Kings), Meguey Baker's Wishing Games, The Final Girl, Ten Candles, Dread Geas of Duke Vulku, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Monster of the Week, Lovecraftesque, Usagi Yojimbo, Amazons, Golden Sky Stories: Fantasy Friends Worlds Without Master: http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/Eppy's Webpage: https://dig1000holes.wordpress.com/Meguey Baker's Wishing Games: https://www.patreon.com/Meguey Other Links:Children Falling Over - https://www.reddit.com/r/childrenfallingoverDarth Darth Binks - https://www.reddit.com/comments/3qvj6w/