Threat Dice
45 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago -A podcast about roleplaying games, storytelling, and the vagaries of the dice. Weekly discussions about various aspects of tabletop RPGs and other nerdy topics! By the team at Tumbledie Games, LLC
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Episodes
Pathfinder
February 20, 2023 15:30 - 23 minutes - 17.4 MBOn this episode of Threat Dice, Kylen does a system overview of Pathfinder 1st Edition, a game which he has spent FAR too many hours playing over the past three years. After joining a PF1E game on a lark with a group of online friends, he has grown to truly respect and admire the system for what it can accomplish, despite its limitations. The best part? SO MANY CHARACTER OPTIONS! Questions? Comments? Tweet us @tumbledie! Today's quote is from The Soulforge by Margaret Weis. Music in t...
VERITAS - Trove of Tales #1 - Episode 3
May 07, 2021 04:00 - 36 minutes - 25 MBHaving faced the dangers of the wilderness, the three Legionnaires have reached the mysterious ruins. What will they find inside? Will it be worth the danger they face, as they trespass on a place that time rightfully forgot? Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode (Main Theme: Last Stand and Recap Theme: Lifeless Eyes Watching) is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com. This episode also contains V...
VERITAS - Trove of Tales #1 - Episode 2
April 09, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 23.4 MBReyah isn't sure that Aerus is fully of sound mind on this one, but he's in command, so she goes along. She only remembers that the ruins they're heading for made her feel deeply uneasy, the last time they were there. Both the terrain and weather are against them--how will our intrepid heroes fare in the trek across the wilds, reluctantly toward their destination? Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode (Main Theme: Last Stand and Recap Theme: Lifeless Eyes Watchi...
VERITAS - Trove of Tales #1 - Episode 1
March 12, 2021 05:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBAt last, the first episode has arrived! VERITAS is a solo live-play of Tumbledie Games' RPG-in-development, Trove! On today's episode, the heroes Reyah, Aerus and Navar deal with the fallout of the prologue's devastating events. What will they do, now that they have been robbed of their home, their honor and their life's purpose? The Worlds We Weave is now its own podcast! Find it right here. Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode (Main Theme: Last Stand and Re...
VERITAS - Trove of Tales #1 - PROLOGUE
February 12, 2021 05:00 - 25 minutes - 17.5 MBWe're BACK! After far too long away, Kylen returns to the microphone with something new. After a first full season of talking near-everything RPGs, and then a short time away for unavoidable reasons, it's time to come back and tell some stories. This episode is the prologue for a new solo live-play/audio drama, powered by the upcoming TROVE RPG system developed by Tumbledie Games. VERITAS is a dark epic fantasy which will serve as an important gateway into the fiction that TROVE will launc...
The Worlds We Weave - A Holiday
February 05, 2021 18:00 - 36 minutes - 25.3 MBWelcome to The Worlds We Weave, a worldbuilding experiment where you can join in. This episode's spark is "A Holiday" and I am joined by Kevin, Kylen and a special guest. Our next spark is "An Heirloom". Is it mundane? Blessed? Cursed? Who is passing it down to whom? Check out Tale of the Manticore at https://taleofthemanticore.blogspot.com/ Send your heirloom ideas to [email protected] or add them in a comment on the Worlds We Weave blog at https://worldsweweave.blogspot.com/ Questio...
Worlds Not Quite Woven Yet
January 29, 2021 17:00 - 1 minute - 831 KBI just wanted to let you all know, this week's episode has been postponed until next week. I hope you will join us then. The "holiday" spark is still open for submissions. Does it celebrate an ancient dragon? Does it commemorate a galactic war? Does it involve the worship of an eldritch beast? Send your holiday ideas to [email protected] or add them in a comment on the Worlds We Weave blog at https://worldsweweave.blogspot.com/ Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this...
The Worlds We Weave - The Barkeep Part 2
January 22, 2021 18:00 - 13 minutes - 9.49 MBThis episode is a continuation of episode 1 with some housekeeping, a new segment, and a late Barkeep submission. Our next spark is a holiday. Does it celebrate an ancient dragon? Does it commemorate a galactic war? Does it involve the worship of an eldritch beast? Send your holiday ideas to [email protected] or add them in a comment on the Worlds We Weave blog at https://worldsweweave.blogspot.com/ Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTmTdOgv0M Quest...
The Worlds We Weave - The Barkeep
January 15, 2021 05:00 - 32 minutes - 22 MBWelcome to the first episode of The Worlds We Weave, a Threat Dice worldbuilding experiment where you, the listener, are the weaver. I am joined by Kevin and we discuss three submissions on our first spark, the barkeep. Our next spark is a holiday. Does it celebrate an ancient dragon? Does it commemorate a galactic war? Does it involve the worship of an eldrich beast? Send your holiday ideas to [email protected] Check out Tale of the Manticore at https://taleofthemanticore.blogspot.co...
The Worlds We Weave
January 10, 2021 01:00 - 7 minutes - 4.6 MBIn this week's episode, I introduce a new Threat Dice program, The Worlds We Weave, a worldbuilding experiment that you can contribute to. The First Spark: Barkeep I feel a good start is not an object or location, but a person. After all, stories usually don’t add up to much without them. And this is a person I think many of you will be familiar with as a character that helps launch many of the stories we tell around our game tables: the barkeep. They might sling ale at the tavern in the v...
2020 Retrospective
December 18, 2020 05:00 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBThank you all so much for a wonderful year! For our last episode of 2020, Kylen takes a look back at the months of May through October on Threat Dice, highlighting some of his favorite moments. To know where you're going, it's always a good idea to remember where you've been. See you in 2021! Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com.
Non-Player Characters
December 11, 2020 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MBOn this week's episode of Threat Dice: Non-Player Characters. The players of a tabletop RPG portray a tiny slice of the people that populate a fictional world. All the rest of them belong to the GM. But how do we create them? How do we make them feel real? How can we inspire sympathy in fictional characters, to the end of guiding and inspiring the players? All that, and more, in this week's discussion! Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0...
The Heroine's Journey
December 04, 2020 05:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBKylen's back from NaNoWriMo, and boy are his fingers tired! With his return, he brings some thoughts on what inspired him to take on the NaNo challenge for the first time in 7 years. A book by Gail Carriger called The Heroine's Journey is what drove Kylen back to the word mines. It tells us about a different fundamental structure for stories, one that is somewhat underappreciated in mainstream media's constant search for the eternal loner hero. But what does this have to do with tabletop ...
One Chat to Rule Them All
November 27, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MBIn this episode, I gather all nerds to me and have a talk with Kevin, Kylen, and Eric. Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com. This week's quote is from William Shakespeare.
A Chat With Kevin
November 20, 2020 05:00 - 27 minutes - 18 MBIn this episode, I talk with my friend and business partner, Kevin Baringer on the subject of RPG art. Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com. This week's quote is from J.R.R. Tolkien.
A Chat With Eric
November 13, 2020 05:00 - 40 minutes - 25.5 MBIn this episode, I interview my good friend and renowned DM (at least in the New Hampshire seacoast area), Eric Doucet Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com. This week's quote is from Douglas Adams.
Homebrewing: The Interview
November 06, 2020 05:00 - 33 minutes - 22.7 MBIn this episode, a special host interviews a special guest covering the topic of the RPG homebrew. Questions? Comments? Tweet us! (@tumbledie) Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com. This week's quote is from Frank Herbert's "Dune".
Falcon's Cry #5 - The First Year (FINALE)
October 30, 2020 04:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBBryn, Keeva, Domnhall and the sheep have arrived home in Verbrigg. Now it's time to settle in, and watch as our small community navigates the rest of the year ahead. Will the Veldt be sweet and kind to them, or will it pile hardship upon hardship until the village is barely holding on? Find out, on this week's FINALE episode of FALCON'S CRY - A Ballad of Blood and Iron Story, powered by Trove! Book Recommendation: The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger Today's episode featured clips from: ...
Falcon's Cry #4 - The Way Home
October 23, 2020 04:00 - 32 minutes - 22.7 MBWith their goal in Tsyr achieved, it's time for Bryn, Keeva, Domnhall, and the flock of sheep to head back to Verbrigg. They've got a three-day journey ahead of them, back through the ancient forest, and then among the hills and fields that surround Bryn's home. Dangers lurk everywhere in the Veldt. Nowhere is entirely safe. Can Bryn guide them true along the way, and get them all home to a warm hearth? Find out, on this week's episode of FALCON'S CRY - A Ballad of Blood and Iron Story, pow...
Falcon's Cry #3 - Strangers
October 16, 2020 04:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBBryn and Domnhall have reached their destination at last! But this place is strange to them. They have little idea what to expect, and no clue whether they'll be able to find what they need. It's all they can do to make the attempt, and hope that fate goes their way. But someone here knows that they're coming, and is waiting for them. Are they friend or foe? Can they find what they need to save their village, here in this new place? Find out, on this week's episode of FALCON'S CRY - A Ball...
Falcon's Cry #2 - Run to the Water
October 09, 2020 04:00 - 34 minutes - 23 MBIn celebration of spooooky October, Threat Dice is cosplaying as a solo actual-play instead of a TTRPG discussion 'cast! Join Bryn the Hunter as she travels through the dark prehistoric fantasy world she calls home. Wonder and danger alike await in the wilderness! She is on a personal quest to find some sort of domestic animal that she can shepherd back home, after an impossibly huge lizard devoured her community's goat flock. She is accompanied by the hapless goatherd boy Domnhall as they ...
Falcon's Cry #1
October 02, 2020 04:00 - 36 minutes - 23.5 MBIt's our 25th episode! To celebrate, Kylen is taking you, dear listeners, behind the curtain into the game development and testing process. Our fiction-first, narrative "storybuilding" RPG, Trove, has been in development, playtesting and refinement for over a year. It's coming close to its final form, and Kylen is working on a setting and interpretive ruleset called Ballad of Blood and Iron. It's a dark fantasy game, set in a time and place before empires, before steel, before written lan...
Zweihander
September 25, 2020 04:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MBIt's time to get Grim & Perilous! Kylen finished a five-session Zweihänder RPG test play in the GM's chair. How does the game work? How does it feel to run it? Does the game achieve ludonarrative harmony, or is it lost in the discordance of dissonance? Come along and find out! You can find the Zweihänder team on Twitter: @ZweihanderRPG. The Core Rulebook is available from DriveThruRPG. Questions? Comments? Tweet us @tumbledie! Today's quote is from The Witcher on Netflix. Music in this ...
Player Agency
September 18, 2020 04:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBOn this episode of Threat Dice, Kylen is all about 'player agency' -- making sure that the players around the table have real impact on the stories you tell with your tabletop RPG system of choice! A system-agnostic discussion. It's about choices and consequences, and how to help guide a group of players with just the right touch to make sure they don't get 'railroaded', but also taking care not to drown them in the 'sandbox'! Questions? Comments? Tweet us @tumbledie! Today's quote is fro...
Wrong Power Fantasy
September 11, 2020 16:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MBOn this week's episode of Threat Dice, Kylen gets a bit personal, and talks about the idea of the "power fantasy". (Not that one.) Each of us has their own personal idea of what we would do, given infinite time and resources. That can come through in how we play video games, how we read books, watch movies, and specifically -- how much we enjoy a certain campaign or story in our tabletop RPGs. What are the unifying themes and stories that really get you to your ultimate engagement in a vide...
Alignment
August 28, 2020 04:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBKylen approaches a dangerous topic with sword and shield raised. ALIGNMENT! A tradition, and institution--and so often used as a garrote against players of the game. Is it time for the two-axis, Law vs. Chaos & Good vs. Evil alignment to be consigned to the dustbin of history? There's no way in the world he's the first person to say it, but Kylen says "yes." Tune in to this week's episode to find out where the concept of alignment started, an alternate look at the idea through the lens of ...
Magic
August 21, 2020 04:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBMagic is a core and intrinsic part of fantasy, and maybe even more so in fantasy RPGs. Less advice, and more a starting point for discussion: Kylen talks about the history of magic in Dungeons & Dragons--where it all began, compared to where it is now--and about how the magic in Dungeons & Dragons is, for better or for worse, so inseparably tied to its mechanics that it requests and requires a very certain kind of game and story, unless you're willing to mercilessly cut and forbid your playe...
Numenera
August 14, 2020 04:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MBKylen had the chance to play Numenera, by Monte Cook Games, with some of the players from his regular Pathfinder & Trove playtesting sessions. On today's Threat Dice, Kylen walks us through his impressions of the setting, the system, and the details of how the game plays. This is not a review, but rather a discussion. With any luck, Kylen's thoughts might help you decide whether you want to introduce Numenera as a game at your table, and check it out for yourself. Today's episode featured:...
We Roll Dice #3 - Luna
August 07, 2020 12:00 - 39 minutes - 27 MBOn today's pod, the return of the WE ROLL DICE segment. This week, our guest is @GamerMomLuna. She is an active participant in two live play games, and the host of the Thursday night Tales from the Tavern RPG Roundtable discussion show at twitch.tv/howinerd. You can also find her on Twitter (@GamerMomLuna). Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Check out our Podchaser listing for more details about the show. Drop us a note or a review, we'd love to hear from you! Today's quote is from...
Grief & Gameplay (and what does "fun" mean, anyway?)
July 31, 2020 04:00 - 24 minutes - 16.3 MBOn today's Threat Dice, Kylen goes into something of a difficult subject: what does it mean to us when a character in an RPG actually dies? How does the idea of permanent death in games affect us, and why do we struggle so hard to avoid it? Have tabletop RPGs "lost something" in the relentless pursuit of money and "fun"? Today's episode featured: "Past the Edge" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/license...
The CRUNCH
July 24, 2020 04:00 - 23 minutes - 16.2 MBOn today's episode of Threat Dice, Kylen discusses the CRUNCH of tabletop RPGs. What it means as a term, what it means for our games, and what its opposing force--the "fluff"--does to contextualize it. Can narrative and simulationist games exist in harmony? Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Today's quote is from Abbadon's Gate, by James S.A. Corey. Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com
Asymmetry
July 17, 2020 04:00 - 18 minutes - 13.1 MBToday Kylen discusses a technique he's used to some great success in the past: delivering information directly to players, rather than to the whole table all at once. This is illustrated by the story of his most successful 'one-shot' session to date: the fantasy zombie apocalypse that was his sister's 19th birthday gift. Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Today's quote is from White Knight, by Jim Butcher. Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsv...
Charisma
July 10, 2020 04:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBThere's a problem with Charisma. This week, Kylen explores something that he's seen happening at a lot of RPG tables he's played at: expecting players to provide skills to their characters during in-game social and mental challenges. Listen in to find out if you've seen this happen out in the wild, and what Kylen does to mitigate this issue at his tables. Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Today's quote is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you can tell us why, send us a tweet and we...
We Roll Dice #2 - Adelaide
July 07, 2020 04:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBANOTHER BONUS POD? That's right, faithful listeners! We just love you that much. For the second installment of We Roll Dice, I'm joined by Adelaide Gardner, a tabletop RPG player, GM, and designer. You can find her on Twitter (@ohadelaide). Check out her projects and others at ActionFiction.com. Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Today's quote is from Men In Black. Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.ban...
Right Story, Right Game
July 03, 2020 04:00 - 24 minutes - 16.9 MBIn this week's episode, Kylen discusses the current events happening in the tabletop RPG space, including changes to Dungeons & Dragons. Then, taking the conversation beyond those changes, he talks about the arc of D&D, how the mechanics shape the game and how, if we want, we can find other ways to tell stories that don't have to conform to the framework of the most popular ruleset on the market today: how the mechanics of the game contribute to the feel and fabric of the game, and what to...
Interesting Characters
June 26, 2020 04:00 - 24 minutes - 17.2 MBKylen spends a lot of time in the GM's chair, so for today, he's giving up the screen and sitting on the other side of the table, as we consider ways to bring interesting characters to each and every RPG table that we have the opportunity to be a part of. It's not enough to just bring your stats & class abilities--time to really get some CHARACTER going on! Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.c...
[BONUS] We Roll Dice #1 - Eli
June 23, 2020 04:00 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBBONUS POD! Today, the debut of a new segment on Threat Dice. It's called We Roll Dice, and it is the stories of TTRPG players from across the globe. How they got started, when and how they learned to play, their favorite characters, campaigns, and more. Our first We Roll Dice guest is a RPG player & DM named Eli. You can find him on Twitter (@_reliable1) or Twitch (reliable1). This is his story. Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VIN...
Worldbuilding, Part 2
June 20, 2020 04:00 - 34 minutes - 22.8 MBKevin and Andy return to the show, to discuss actual examples of world-building that they have worked on in the past few months. There's no one way to play, create or participate in tabletop RPGs. It's critical to hear as many voices as we can, so that we can find someone whose process we can relate to. We've gotten fast and loose with our world-building of late. What's your favorite style? Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT:...
The Lost War: Interview with Justin Lee Anderson
June 12, 2020 04:00 - 39 minutes - 26.5 MBThis week, Kylen talks with Justin Lee Anderson, author of The Lost War (available on Kindle, Audible and Kindle Unlimited), about the inspirations behind this fantastic fantasy novel, and the RPG roots that he drew upon to write it. Check out Justin's website at justinleeanderson.com, and find him on Twitter (@authorjla). Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com
Worldbuilding
June 05, 2020 04:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MBThe rules are an important part of the game, but the story your players create is the best part! Every story needs a setting, and in this week's episode, Kylen walks us through his process for building new worlds for his games and stories. Everyone has a way that works best for them; with any luck, Kylen's process will help you think about and refine yours! Questions? Comments? Tweet us @Tumbledie! Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.co...
Not What You Expect
May 29, 2020 04:00 - 30 minutes - 19.3 MB"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring This week, Kylen is joined by Kevin and Andy for a discussion about our own assumptions and biases when it comes to RPGs. By his own declaration, Gandalf is a wizard... but does that fit with our understanding of wizardry? Join us for a super-nerdy discussion about terminology, rules, and why the things you always assumed to be true might not necessa...
Narrative Combat
May 22, 2020 04:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MBInitiative order. You know it well: every character takes their turn in order, with the adversaries sprinkled in. It's simple, orderly, and everyone gets their shot. It's also extremely common, whether you determine the order with dice, cards, or drawing straws. But is it really the only way? In this episode, Kylen discusses his own revelation in turn-taking order, by way of the Powered by the Apocalypse "hack" called Dungeon World. See www.dungeonworldsrd.com for more info on this remarkab...
Dynamic Combat
May 15, 2020 04:00 - 22 minutes - 15.6 MBIt's your turn. Roll to hit. You miss. NEXT! RPG combat can sometimes turn into a slog. In this week's episode, come along with Kylen as he discusses ways to make combat encounters more dynamic and engaging. It's not always just about 'balancing' the encounter: there's a lot of things that we can do as Game Masters to keep our players on their toes! Music in this episode is licensed CC-BY 4.0 by VINDSVEPT: youtube.com/vindsvept, patreon.com/vindsvept, vindsvept.bandcamp.com
Session Zero (Cont.)
May 08, 2020 04:00 - 26 minutes - 18.2 MBKylen, Kevin and Andy go further into depth on the subject of Session Zero: talking through two recent actual play sessions that started with building a brand new game alongside the players. Andy talks about his experience with "the Bug and the Baker", and how he adapted to character concepts that came totally out of left field. Kevin discusses his Session Zero with the Trove playtest group colloquially known as "the Murderhobos", and how building the game together created a heightened sens...
Session Zero
May 01, 2020 04:00 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MBOn the introductory "Episode Zero" of Threat Dice, the founders of Tumbledie Games, LLC discuss what it means to run a "Session Zero" for a new group of players around an RPG table. Join host Kylen Wiggin, and guests Kevin Baringer and Andrew Fling, as they talk about ways to welcome players into a new game, and help those players build ownership in the group and in the story.