About the show

Welcome to the Unwritten Earths Symposium! In each episode, tabletop RPG designers Nathan D. Paoletta and Epidiah Ravachol try to trick each other into designing a game they wouldn't otherwise make.

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Episodes

  • The Eras Episode

    March 19th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 20 mins
    arcane gems

    Oops, all Game Discovery! In this episode we do a brief overview of the history of TTRPGS (truly-true roleplaying games), each picking a game to highlight from our birth years in each decade from the 1970s to the 2020s. We delve into some 2010s highlights for Arcane Gems, but this is a good framework for us to talk about our personal game histories as well as chart high-level changes in game design since the beginning.

  • The Convention Slot Episode

    March 5th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 7 mins
    arcane gems, conventions

    No, it's not a 4-hour episode! After talking about our game discovery homework guided by games we'd be excited to play at a convention (or elsewhere), we dive into how our experiences going to conventions and playing games in specific time slots has shaped our game design.

  • Plus Expenses #87

    February 26th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  50 mins 36 secs
    plus expenses

    Here's an episode of our patron-exclusive podcast Plus Expenses, where we talk about things that aren't roleplaying games (but do still end up talking about roleplaying games). You can get Plus Expenses at every level of our Patreon, or check it out with a 7-day free trial. Thanks for listening!

  • The Constraints Episode

    February 19th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 14 mins
    arcane gems, listener questions

    In this episode we discuss the arcane gems found within games we would play with our moms, give some updates on what's happening in the discord, and field a great question about productive constraints in design and play.

  • The Groundhog Day Episode

    February 5th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  52 mins 50 secs
    listener questions

    In this episode we talk about a Groundhog Day-inspired convention concept, some thoughts on setting design, where we're at with tricking each other into designing a game, and we field some listener questions about where to stay on top of TTRPG happenings and constraints on the design process (more of which we'll be talking about next time).

  • The Purple and Yellow Episode

    January 22nd, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 8 mins
    arcane gems

    In this episode we do our color-guided homework, explore the realm of rpg fiction written by people who haven't played rpgs (?), and talk about Epidiah "The Night Writer" Ravachol's handwriting strategy.

  • The Coffee & Game Design Episode

    January 8th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 10 mins
    arcane gems, listener questions, war stories

    In this episode we lay out the template for Coffee & Game Design, assign some homework, delve into the archives for some Arcane Gems, share a war story and field a listener question about promoting our games.

  • The Cursed Episode

    December 18th, 2024  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 13 mins
    game discovery, one hot minute

    In this Cursed Episode, despite being interrupted by a power outage we talk about some juicy Arcane Gems within our game discovery homework, and talk about our current works in progress.

  • Mounts, Death and Music

    December 4th, 2024  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 7 mins
    game discovery, train of thought

    In this episode, we talk about mounts and companions, death in RPGs, and follow a Train of Thought about translating sheet music into playable patterns before delving into our game discovery homework. Have we designed a game yet?

  • Plus Expenses #81

    November 19th, 2024  |  Season 0  |  43 mins 53 secs
    plus expenses

    In this crossover Plus Expenses, we talk about transitioning from our last show (Two Hundred a Day) to our new Unwritten Earths Symposium Podcast. To receive bonus Plus Expenses episodes after every main show episode, subscribe to the Patreon!

  • Enter the Symposium

    November 19th, 2024  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 57 secs
    game discovery

    Welcome to the Unwritten Earths Symposium Podcast! On Episode 0, game designers Nathan D. Paoletta and Epidiah Ravachol introduce themselves, talk about the Symposium, and then uncover some arcane games from their game discovery homework. Have we designed a game yet?