Speculate
385 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsSpeculate is an award-winning actual play TTRPG show starring science fiction & fantasy authors, editors, and more.
Hosted by authors Gregory A. Wilson, Brandon O’Brien, and Michael R. Underwood, the show explores the overlap between different forms of storytelling from prose to games and beyond. They’ve played Blades in the Dark, Girl by Moonlight, Lasers & Feelings, D&D, and more.
In addition to the podcast episodes, you can find video-only shows at speculatesf.com/shows
NOTE: In 2018, Speculate transitioned from its original literary criticism format to the current actual play show. All of the old episdoes are still available.
Speculate is supported by listeners like you at patreon.com/speculate
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Episodes
Episode 243 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Seventeen of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
January 13, 2021 16:36 - 48 minutes - 66.4 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we continue in the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing to explore Duskwall, deepen their characters’ […]
Episode 242 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Sixteen of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
January 06, 2021 11:30 - 40 minutes - 55.9 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we continue in the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing to explore Duskwall, deepen their characters’ […]
Episode 241 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Fifteen of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
November 19, 2020 14:34 - 33 minutes - 46.4 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 240 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Fourteen of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
November 12, 2020 11:30 - 37 minutes - 51 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 239 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Twelve of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
November 05, 2020 18:49 - 42 minutes - 58 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 239 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Thirteen of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
November 05, 2020 18:49 - 42 minutes - 58 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 238 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Twelve of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
October 14, 2020 11:30 - 25 minutes - 35.4 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 237 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Eleven of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
October 07, 2020 18:00 - 33 minutes - 46.4 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 236 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Ten of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
September 30, 2020 19:30 - 48 minutes - 66.4 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 235 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Nine of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
September 16, 2020 11:30 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 234 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Eight of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
September 02, 2020 19:30 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 233 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Seven of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
August 26, 2020 16:09 - 40 minutes - 55.2 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs the crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery, […]
Episode 232 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Six of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
August 13, 2020 11:30 - 5 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a […]
Episode 231 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Five of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
August 06, 2020 11:30 - 32 minutes - 44.1 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a […]
BONUS – Annihilation Aria Excerpt
July 31, 2020 11:30 - 17 minutes - 23.5 MBIn celebration of his new novel Annihilation Aria hitting bookshelves, we have a short excerpt from the audiobook edition performed by narrators Caitlin Kelly and Chris Andrew Ciula. Annihilation Aria is available in audio, ebook, and paperback, wherever books are sold. We hope you enjoy this taste of the book, and we’ll be back with a regular […]
Episode 230 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Four of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
July 30, 2020 11:30 - 35 minutes - 49 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a […]
Episode 229 of Speculate!–Star Wars: Scum and Villainy–Part Three of After Alderaan!
June 25, 2020 14:30 - 1 hour - 87.6 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return again to the Star Wars universe and Scum and Villainy system, as Mike moves into the GM role while Greg shifts back into player mode along with Marie Bilodeau, Joyce Chng, and DongWon Song. In […]
Episode 228 of Speculate!–Star Wars: Scum and Villainy–Part Two of After Alderaan!
June 17, 2020 17:00 - 36 minutes - 50.4 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return again to the Star Wars universe and Scum and Villainy system, as Mike moves into the GM role while Greg shifts back into player mode along with Marie Bilodeau, Joyce Chng, and DongWon Song. In […]
Episode 227 of Speculate!–Star Wars: Scum and Villainy–After Alderaan!
June 10, 2020 17:00 - 29 minutes - 41 MBBeginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return again to the Star Wars universe and Scum and Villainy system, as Mike moves into the GM role while Greg shifts back into player mode along with Marie Bilodeau, Joyce Chng, and DongWon Song. In […]
Episode 226.3 of Speculate!-Blades in the Dark-Part Three.3 of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
May 23, 2020 17:16 - 9 minutes - 12.8 MBfThis episode carries content notes for uncontrolled falling, panic, electroplasmic chaos, and crying. Ring and Ash talk in private while moving a chest, then Crossroads and Skelly take a short walk that leads them to some curious birds. Crossroads finds an unexpected letter. “The Case of the Cindered Seal” is a joint production with […]
Episode 226.2 of Speculate!-Blades in the Dark-Part Three.2 of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
May 22, 2020 17:27 - 37 minutes - 52 MBThis episode carries content warnings for punching through a wall and food. Ash gets a strange trio of visitors when Skelly, Crossroads, and Ring come calling to ask about the seal. The four try to talk through the possible connections between Runa, Crossroads, the seal, and why the Bluecoats are involved. Crossroads says it needs […]
Episode 226.1 of Speculate!-Blades in the Dark-Part Three.1 of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
May 21, 2020 16:22 - 52 minutes - 72.2 MBThis episode carries content warnings for war trauma, death in combat, trauma flashbacks, alcohol. Ring helps a neighbor before trying to catch up with a sprinting Crossroads. Skelly investigates Crossroads’ apartment for clues after the Bluecoats’ attack. “The Case of the Cindered Seal” is a joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel, playing Blades in the […]
Episode 226 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Three of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
May 20, 2020 12:45 - 48 minutes - 66.5 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall and the Blades in the Dark system as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a […]
Episode 225 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–Part Two of The Case of the Cindered Seal!
May 15, 2020 11:30 - 48 minutes - 66.8 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the city of Duskwall as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin continuing an exploration of a mystery–about themselves and others–using the Blades in […]
Episode 224 of Speculate!–Blades in the Dark–The Case of the Cindered Seal!
May 06, 2020 18:21 - 40 minutes - 55.6 MBBeginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we again return to the city of Duskwall as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin through a funeral–and a mystery–using the Blades in the Dark system. […]
Episode 223 of Speculate!–Special State of the Field Episode, Live From Farpoint, Part Two
March 17, 2020 18:37 - 28 minutes - 39 MBIn this episode recorded live at the Farpoint Convention in Baltimore, Greg and Mike continue their conversation about the state of TTRPGs, looking at indie games, distribution methods, game jams, zine quests, and more. If you like what you hear, make sure to tune in soon for more actual play episodes and discussions of story, […]
Episode 222 of Speculate!–Special State of the Field Episode, Live From Farpoint
March 10, 2020 11:30 - 29 minutes - 40.6 MBIn this episode recorded live at the Farpoint Convention in Baltimore, Greg and Mike chat a bit about personal projects and the state of Speculate before moving into a conversation about the changing landscape of tabletop role-playing and how the stories they tell (and the people who are now being encouraged to tell them) are […]
Episode 221 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy, Star Wars Edition: A Hidden Hope, Part Three!
January 08, 2020 11:30 - 48 minutes - 66.6 MBConcluding a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie […]
Episode 220 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy, Star Wars Edition: A Hidden Hope, Part Two!
December 31, 2019 11:30 - 49 minutes - 67.9 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie […]
Episode 219 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy, Star Wars Edition: A Hidden Hope!
December 17, 2019 11:30 - 40 minutes - 56.2 MBBeginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie […]
Episode 218 of Speculate!–Tabletop Talk–Combining Worlds and Systems
October 31, 2019 11:30 - 48 minutes - 66.2 MBIn a special episode of Speculate 2.0, Mike and Greg chat about taking an existing world from fantasy or science fiction and combining it with a pre-existing system, as Mike recently did in a previous set of episodes combining Scum and Villainy and Star Wars, looking at how game mechanics can and should support good […]
Episode 217 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy, Star Wars Edition: Echoes of Empire, Part Three!
October 17, 2019 17:50 - 9 minutes - 12.6 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we conclude this edition of the Scum and Villainy experience, this time in the world of Star Wars. GM Mike Underwood and a whole new set of players–Brent C. Lambert, Mur Lafferty, Bryan Young, and Delilah Dawson–wrap […]
Episode 216 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy, Star Wars Edition: Echoes of Empire, Part Two!
October 09, 2019 18:15 - 33 minutes - 45.6 MBContinuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we continue the Scum and Villainy experience, this time in the world of Star Wars. GM Mike Underwood and a whole new set of players–Brent C. Lambert, Mur Lafferty, Bryan Young, and Deliah Dawson–have just gotten past […]
Episode 215 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy, Star Wars Edition: Echoes of Empire!
October 03, 2019 11:30 - 1 hour - 89.8 MBBeginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the Scum and Villainy experience, this time in the world of Star Wars. GM Mike Underwood brings a whole new set of players–Brent C. Lambert, Mur Lafferty, Bryan Young, and Delilah Dawson–and their characters […]
Episode 214 of Speculate!–How Landscape Affects the Quest, Live from Gen Con!
August 23, 2019 11:30 - 47 minutes - 64.6 MBIn this episode, we post a panel from the Gen Con 2019 Writers’ Symposium, one of the largest writing tracks in North America–this one, with Greg, Anna Smith Spark, John O’ Neill, and moderator Steve Drew, looks at the various ways in which topography, immediate environment, and the surrounding features of the landscape impact the […]
Episode 212 of Speculate!-Origins 2019 Interviews Part Two
July 10, 2019 19:05 - 26 minutes - 36.2 MBDuring our trip to the 2019 Origins Game Fair, we took some time to chat with some game designers about what’s new and exciting in the world of rpgs and to ask about the impact of the actual play movement on game design and the tabletop rpg industry. In this episode, we talk with For The […]
Episode 211 of Speculate!-Origins 2019 Interviews Part One
July 03, 2019 16:30 - 21 minutes - 30.1 MBDuring our trip to the 2019 Origins Game Fair, we took some time to chat with some game designers about what’s new and exciting in the world of rpgs and to ask about the impact of the actual play movement on game design and the tabletop rpg industry. In this episode, we talk with prolific […]
Episode 210 of Speculate!-Pen and Pixels – Live from Origins 2019
June 26, 2019 13:30 - 53 minutes - 73.9 MBToday we have the first of several episodes recorded from Greg and Mike’s trip to the Origins Game Fair in June of 2019. The panel description: Lessons from gaming for prose fiction and lessons from prose for gaming. This panel featured Carlos Hernandez, Michael R. Underwood, and Tracy Chowdhury, with Gregory A. Wilson moderating. This […]
Episode 209 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy: The Box, Discussion Episode!
May 29, 2019 11:30 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBIn Speculate 2.0’s nineteenth actual play episode, we wrap up (for the moment) our sessions in the world of Scum and Villainy by discussing the experience of playing together over this series of episodes, as GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song chat about what developing […]
Episode 208 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy: The Box, Part Five!
May 16, 2019 15:00 - 1 hour - 67.9 MBIn Speculate 2.0’s eighteenth actual play episode, we continue in the world of Scum and Villainy with GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song. The crew has the box and a ship, neither of which belong to them…and now they’ve got a lot of people on […]
Episode 207 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy: The Box, Part Four!
May 09, 2019 11:30 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBIn Speculate 2.0’s seventeenth actual play episode, we return to the world of Scum and Villainy with GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song. The crew has the box and a ship, neither of which belong to them…but they’re sure everything will be just finnnneeee. If […]
Episode 206 of Speculate!–State of Speculate 2.0
April 24, 2019 19:14 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MBIn Speculate 2.0’s sixteenth actual play episode, Mike and Greg chat about how the transition from literary analysis to actual play podcast has gone so far, the things they’ve learned from the games they’ve played, and what things look like for the future. If you like what you hear, please tune in soon as we […]
Episode 205 of Speculate!–Eberron: Murder in Skyway, Discussion Episode!
April 17, 2019 15:53 - 24 minutes - 34.3 MBIn Speculate 2.0’s fifteenth actual play episode, we conclude (for now) our time in Eberron by discussing the experience of playing together over this series of episodes, as Mike, Maurice Broaddus, Lauren Roy, and Marie Bilodeau chat about how the players and characters grew closer over their time playing and adventuring together. If you like […]
Episode 204 of Speculate!–Eberron: Murder in Skyway, Part Five!
April 10, 2019 15:56 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBIn Speculate 2.0’s fourteenth actual play episode, Greg DMs in the world of Eberron as the party of Pikebreaker (played by Mike), Machupa (Maurice Broaddus), Grim (Lauren Roy), and Clak (Marie Bilodeau) face a dangerous enemy in a risky environment–all to clear their name of a murder. If you like what you hear, please tune […]
Episode 203 of Speculate!–Eberron: Murder in Skyway, Part Four
March 27, 2019 18:09 - 1 hour - 68.5 MBIn Speculate 2.0’s thirteenth actual play episode, Greg DMs as we rejoin the party of Pikebreaker (played by Mike), Machupa (Maurice Broaddus), Grim (Lauren Roy), and Clak (Marie Bilodeau) as we return to Eberron and the City of Towers–where the group is trying to clear their name of a murder by finding the actual killer. […]
Episode 202 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy: The Box, Part Three-Discussion Episode!
March 06, 2019 11:30 - 27 minutes - 37.7 MBIn this episode, we conclude our playthrough of Scum and Villainy with Speculate 2.0’s twelfth actual play episode. GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song discuss their experience of Scum and Villainy, and how each of them had a blast by working together without feeling like […]
Episode 201 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy: The Box, Part Two!
February 27, 2019 19:32 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBIn this episode, we continue our playthrough of Scum and Villainy with Speculate 2.0’s eleventh actual play episode. GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song find themselves in a bit of trouble–and are trying not to get into even more of it as they move from […]
Episode 200 of Speculate!–Scum and Villainy: The Box, Part One!
February 07, 2019 17:00 - 1 hour - 98.8 MBIn this episode, we open up with a new crew and a new system, as we enter the world of Scum and Villainy with Speculate 2.0’s tenth actual play episode. GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song chat about the kind of crew they want to […]
Episode 199 of Speculate!–Eberron: Murder in Skyway, Part Three–Discussion Episode!
December 13, 2018 13:47 - 36 minutes - 50.7 MBIn this episode, we continue our return to D&D, Eberron, and the City of Towers, as Speculate 2.0 rolls on with our ninth actual play episode. DM Greg and players Mike, Maurice Broaddus, Lauren Roy, and Marie Bilodeau chat about how the session went, the specific qualities of D&D in terms of combat, social interaction, […]
Episode 198 of Speculate!–Eberron: Murder in Skyway, Part Two!
December 04, 2018 21:22 - 1 hour - 98.5 MBIn this episode, we continue our return to D&D, Eberron, and the City of Towers, as Speculate 2.0 rolls on with our eighth actual play episode. Greg DMs the opening episode of a one shot adventure continuing the story of Pikebreaker, Machupa, Grim, and Clak, played by Mike, Maurice Broaddus, Lauren Roy, and Marie Bilodeau […]