Episodes
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Plus Expenses #118
July 1st, 2026 | Season 2 | 50 mins 32 secs
plus expenses
Plus Expenses is our bonus show for Patrons, dropping every other week between our regular episodes. This one is on the public feed for everyone, to round out our Origins Interviews episode with our reflections on the convention. Thanks so much for listening - if you dig this, you can get it for just $5 a month over at our Patreon!
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The Origins 2026 Interviews Episode
June 24th, 2026 | Season 2 | 2 hrs 46 mins
convention, game design, interviews
We went to Origins Game Fair! It was a great time, and we were lucky enough to catch up with old friends and chat with new ones for the show. This episode consists of 6 in-person interview/conversations with game designers, GMs and publishers about Origins, Games on Demand, boothing, and game design theory and practice. We felt extremely fortunate to have the chance to chat with all of these incredible folks, and hope you enjoy the conversations!
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The Sexy Episode
June 10th, 2026 | Season 2 | 1 hr 5 mins
publishing
It's the summer, which means time for a sweaty, exciting episode about... distribution platforms! A new challenger has entered the Arena, and we discuss the role of these digital marketplaces as part of actually getting games into peoples hands, the features and constraints they each have and how those can shape the design of your business, and what's exciting about this new option, rpg-trader.com. Note: we have no relationship with the site other than (as of this release) adding our products to it to see how it goes.
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The Prompts & Standards Episode
May 27th, 2026 | Season 2 | 1 hr 2 mins
scholars, train of thought
We come back from a brief sabbatical to consider a bundle of topics from our Scholars. We talk about prompts in truly true roleplaying games (and reclaiming them from their AI-related meaning), things in our lives we've adopted from games and that we adapt into our game design, and different interpretations of the idea of a "standard" in game design. An assumption, yes, but what about a mode of experimentation, like a Jazz Standard? This is one of our more after-hours style conversations that touches on lots of the things we're always thinking about.
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The Works In Progress Episode
April 29th, 2026 | Season 2 | 1 hr 5 mins
game design, homework
Nathan and Eppy finally turn in their spring semester homework, discussing where they are at with The Marian and Robin Roleplaying Party Game (and spinners!), and Fair Winds and Following Seas (and music!), respectively. Informed by both formal exploration and input from Scholars over at our Discord, both of these games are starting to get somewhere.
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The Haters Episode
April 15th, 2026 | Season 2 | 59 mins 1 sec
mailroom, swords without master
No, this isn't about games we don't like; following up on a question from our Wisdom Episode, we talk about the parts of making games that are not fun, from merely boring all the way to actively hate. This turns into a conversation about how we get through those periods, how the unique nature of truly true roleplaying games makes perfection impossible, and harnessing the hate that flows through you for good. We balance that out with an update on something we're loving right now, the incoming artwork for Swords Without Master!
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The Wisdom Episode
April 1st, 2026 | Season 2 | 50 mins 36 secs
publishing, wisdom
As is tradition on this first day of April, Nathan and Eppy are going through some of the wisdom we've accumulated as self-publishers over the years, in hopes it'll help out those who are starting their game design journey. We try to address some of the basic questions that you might not know you should be asking, and talk about the core work of finding an audience, benefits and drawbacks of different kinds of conventions, designing your business like it's a game, and starting small in order to give yourself the space to learn and grow. If there's any fools today it's going to be us, but hopefully this is helpful - and if raises further questions, please get in touch so we can continue this conversation!
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The (First) Mailroom Episode
March 18th, 2026 | Season 2 | 53 mins 21 secs
mailroom
In this episode, we visit the mailroom to field some listener questions! We discuss design rituals that we each have, the experience of having games or mechanics fall flat for us in play, and some potential homework for future episodes. The conversation includes digressions into spinner design, playtesting our way out of mechanics that don't work, and how we approach disappointing experiences as something to learn from. Thanks for all the mail!
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The Hacks Episode
March 4th, 2026 | Season 2 | 1 hr 55 secs
game design, homework
In this episode, Nathan and Eppy report back about their "do this with that" homework assignment. Eppy debuts The Marion and Robin Party Roleplaying Game, and Nathan outlines how Remember Tomorrow reconfigures Fair Winds and Following Seas. Then, we reflect on how using other games as the basis of new work (hacks, if you will) can be a really helpful part of the game design process.
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The Mind-Blown Episode
February 18th, 2026 | Season 2 | 56 mins 33 secs
game design, homework
Nathan and Eppy assigned homework off-mic, to discuss some games that showcase thinking about games in a way we never would have, or that made such an impression on us that we've made them part of our toolkits. We discuss what we mean by our minds being blown, then go over our lists. Then, we assign homework for next episode: to sketch out what one of our works-in-progress would look like, if we used one of our mind-blowing influences as a model! We're still aiming to make new games this season, and this was a really productive conversation to help us both along.
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The Survey Episode
February 4th, 2026 | Season 2 | 53 mins 7 secs
game design, listener feedback
In this episode, Nathan and Eppy respond to listener feedback, talk about a recent play experience, and then go through some of the projects we're each working on or thinking about that are not the One Without Master. It's a high-level survey of where we're at, game-design-wise, going into 2026!
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The Shel Kahn Episode
January 21st, 2026 | Season 2 | 1 hr 13 mins
art, guests, shel kahn, swords without master
In this episode, we sit down with friend, artist, game designer and art director for Swords Without Master Shel Kahn to talk about... all of those things! We touch on the different roles of art in game design, working with abstract imagery, refining your taste as a chooser-of-images even if commissioning original art isn't realistic, and the ways artwork and visual design elements help out the game design endeavor. Art... it's good!