Game Mechanics - A Critical Tabletop Podcast
23 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. Each episode, host Logan Jenkins brings in an industry insider to talk about different aspects of Roleplaying games. Whether it’s system authors, module writers, content creators, personalities in the industry, or something else we haven't thought of yet, you’ll hear folks talk about every aspect of this incredible hobby.
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Episodes
S1E11 - Season 1 wrap
June 24, 2020 07:09 - 2 minutes - 4.05 MBSeason 1 is done, but Game Mechanics will return! If you have a suggestion for a future guest, please send it to: [email protected] Follow Logan on Twitter: @LoganJenkins Game Mechanics is hosted and supported by The Orange Groves podcast network.
S1E10 - Marx Shepherd - No Fascists Allowed
June 17, 2020 07:05 - 30 minutes - 42.4 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Marx Shepherd, an indy TTRPG creator, and member of the San Jenaro Co-Op, an organization that puts out a quarterly games digest collectively created by all its members. When Marx reached out to me, they were quick to point out that the co-op wears its communist mindset and values on its sleeve. I was interested in finding out how the Co-op works to...
S1E9 - Rees Bennett - A Drag Nun's Take On Playing a Role
May 27, 2020 07:01 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Rees Bennett, also known as Sister Evelyn Tensions of the Grenville Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The Sisters are an order of drag nuns whose entire mission is to increase joy and decrease shame in the world. Rees puts on makeup, jewelry, and the Greenville sisters’ Habit, and transforms into Evelyn multiple times a week. I know Rees IRL, and I ...
S1E8 - Will Uhl - Prolific Game Creation
May 13, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 38.6 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Will Uhl, a very prolific writer of mostly micro-RPGs… which are exactly what they sound like. Bite-size Roleplaying game concept explorations that only take up a few pages. I was curious to talk to Will about distilling concepts into that small of a space. We talked about advantages, disadvantages, and even the purpose of writing tiny games. I thin...
Will Uhl - Prolific Game Creation
May 13, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 38.6 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Will Uhl, a very prolific writer of mostly micro-RPGs… which are exactly what they sound like. Bite-size Roleplaying game concept explorations that only take up a few pages. I was curious to talk to Will about distilling concepts into that small of a space. We talked about advantages, disadvantages, and even the purpose of writing tiny games. I thin...
Greg Leatherman - What if everyone’s a warrior?
April 29, 2020 07:01 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Greg Leatherman, writer of Glitter Hearts, a Magical Girl anime inspired TTRPG. Greg is also one of my co-hosts on Very Random Encounters. We go way back! One thing I really like about interviewing folks from so many backgrounds is the different answers I get from the same questions I ask to each of them. Greg gives some really interesting takes o...
S1E7 - Greg Leatherman - What if everyone’s a warrior?
April 29, 2020 07:01 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Greg Leatherman, writer of Glitter Hearts, a Magical Girl anime inspired TTRPG. Greg is also one of my co-hosts on Very Random Encounters. We go way back! One thing I really like about interviewing folks from so many backgrounds is the different answers I get from the same questions I ask to each of them. Greg gives some really interesting takes o...
S1E6 - Sean Gomes - Having Dinner on Space Ships
April 15, 2020 07:30 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Sean Gomes, writer of Uncharted Worlds, a Powered by the Apocalypse TTRPG. I am a total Sean Gomes fanboy. There’s a mechanic in UW called “Cramped Quarters;” when the characters are stuck together for a long time (like for space travel) they roll to see whether they had some bad blood, a moment of friendship, or a revelation about a character’s pa...
Sean Gomes - Having Dinner on Space Ships
April 15, 2020 07:30 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Sean Gomes, writer of Uncharted Worlds, a Powered by the Apocalypse TTRPG. I am a total Sean Gomes fanboy. There’s a mechanic in UW called “Cramped Quarters;” when the characters are stuck together for a long time (like for space travel) they roll to see whether they had some bad blood, a moment of friendship, or a revelation about a character’s pa...
Nathan Blades - F*** The Tabletop Police
April 01, 2020 07:18 - 38 minutes - 53.5 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Androgynous Android Gameshow Host from the Future, Nathan Blades. I wanted to talk to him about one-page RPGs and games as permission. His one-page RPG Agents of H.U.E. is about queer spies using gadgets to solve very silly mysteries. Basically, a very gay version of Austin Powers. We talk about that, the strength of brevity in RPGs, imposter syndr...
S1E5 - Nathan Blades - F*** The Tabletop Police
April 01, 2020 07:18 - 38 minutes - 53.5 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Androgynous Android Gameshow Host from the Future, Nathan Blades. I wanted to talk to him about one-page RPGs and games as permission. His one-page RPG Agents of H.U.E. is about queer spies using gadgets to solve very silly mysteries. Basically, a very gay version of Austin Powers. We talk about that, the strength of brevity in RPGs, imposter syndr...
Bianca Zelda - Chasing baby goats
March 16, 2020 07:45 - 26 minutes - 36.1 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Bianca Zelda. Bianca is one of the members of The Broadswords, an all female and nonbinary actual play podcast. Bianca also does a LOT of guest spots on a plethora of other podcasts. I wanted to talk to them about the differences in playing games for yourself and games for public consumption (ie - for podcasts.) They let me know that the key differ...
S1E4 - Bianca Zelda - Chasing baby goats
March 16, 2020 07:45 - 26 minutes - 36.1 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Bianca Zelda. Bianca is one of the members of The Broadswords, an all female and nonbinary actual play podcast. Bianca also does a LOT of guest spots on a plethora of other podcasts. I wanted to talk to them about the differences in playing games for yourself and games for public consumption (ie - for podcasts.) They let me know that the key differ...
Sean McCoy - Meeting players where they are
March 02, 2020 08:01 - 42 minutes - 57.8 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Sean McCoy. Sean is one of the co-founders of Tuesday Knight Games, and the designer, writer, layout artist, and illustrator of Mothership, a sci-fi horror TTRPG that won the 2019 Ennie for best game! Sean is also lead designer on other Tuesday Knight Games, which makes Sean an expert on both TTRPG and boardgames design. That’s why I wanted to talk...
S1E3 - Sean McCoy - Meeting players where they are
March 02, 2020 08:01 - 42 minutes - 57.8 MBWelcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins. Today, I’m talking to Sean McCoy. Sean is one of the co-founders of Tuesday Knight Games, and the designer, writer, layout artist, and illustrator of Mothership, a sci-fi horror TTRPG that won the 2019 Ennie for best game! Sean is also lead designer on other Tuesday Knight Games, which makes Sean an expert on both TTRPG and boardgames design. That’s why I wanted to talk...
S1E2 - Jess Ross - Writing for TTRPGs
February 17, 2020 08:00 - 31 minutes - 43.7 MBToday, I’m talking to Jess Ross about her experience writing for RPGs. Jess has written several modules for D&D in places like the Uncaged Anthology, and in Pugmire (a variation of D&D 5th edition where everyone plays as dogs! She wrote for the supplement Morti Corgi’s Scroll of Mysteries, and just everything about that game is adorable.) We also talk about a problematic aspect of TTRPGs that is somehow still a staple in tons of games. And we discuss Jess’ current work on a neat project ca...
Jess Ross - Writing for TTRPGs
February 17, 2020 08:00 - 31 minutes - 43.7 MBToday, I’m talking to Jess Ross about her experience writing for RPGs. Jess has written several modules for D&D in places like the Uncaged Anthology, and in Pugmire (a variation of D&D 5th edition where everyone plays as dogs! She wrote for the supplement Morti Corgi’s Scroll of Mysteries, and just everything about that game is adorable.) We also talk about a problematic aspect of TTRPGs that is somehow still a staple in tons of games. And we discuss Jess’ current work on a neat project ca...
Riley Hopkins - Interstitial and the Link System
February 03, 2020 15:09 - 28 minutes - 39.3 MBToday, I’m talking to Riley Hopkins about their game, Interstitial; a game about worlds colliding in the vein of Kingdom Hearts, Crisis on Infinite Earths, or Into The Spiderverse. Interstitial is available right now at LinksmithGames.com. Interstitial, like Kingdom Hearts, puts a focus on relationships at the heart of the game. Which brings me to my favorite part of the game, the link system, in which players can make a link with any character in the game to flesh out how the characters f...
An Update And Hiatus
May 14, 2019 00:23 - 1 minute - 1.06 MBEWe're taking a Hiatus! Follow Riley and today's guests on Twitter: Riley: @RevRyeBread Hosted and supported by The Orange Groves podcast network. You can tweet about the show using #RPGDF Our theme music is Wells Branch Park, Predawn by Brother Android.
RPGDF: Money On My Mind - Pricing, Kickstarters, and Pay What You Want
March 16, 2019 02:59 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBToday we are joined by DC and Cass to talk about pricing, kickstarters, and other finance based questions in the tabletop space. We talk about the faults of Pay What You Want, the importance of setting the value for your own work, and what to do in the face of millions of dollars being given to other people. Games we talk about: Dialect Follow Riley and today's guests on Twitter: Riley: @RevRyeBread Cass Kat: @casskdesigns DC: @DungeonCommandr Hosted and supported by The Orange Gro...
RPGDF: A Timeline of Zak S' Abuse
February 16, 2019 11:16 - 1 hour - 69.1 MBIn this episode we talk about Zak S, the abuse and harrassment he's done in the past, and the statements by his two ex partners whose incredible courage began the current pushback of this abuser. We give context for who he is and what he's done, the Mark Diaz Truman "Two Minute Hate" piece and its context today, and other people who have covered up or lied about what they knew about Zak S. If you need a timeline of events and a collection of information presented in the least overwhelming ...
RPGDF: Power Leveling - Experience, Advancements, and Progression in Games
February 16, 2019 11:05 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBIn this episode, Riley talks with TTRPG designers Natalie and Takuma about progression in games! What does leveling up look like and why is it the way it is? How do players gain experience and are there other ways games could implement it? Follow Riley and today's guests on Twitter: Riley: @RevRyeBread Takuma: @takuma_okada_ Hosted and supported by The Orange Groves podcast network. You can tweet about the show using #RPGDF Our theme music is Wells Branch Park, Predawn by Brother Andr...
Welcome to RPG Design Friends
February 14, 2019 04:45 - 30 seconds - 483 KBHosted and supported by The Orange Groves podcast network. Our theme music is Wells Branch Park, Predawn by Brother Android.