Reading D&D Aloud – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In a solo episode, Ben reads aloud an essay from the 2nd edition Vampire: The Masqerade Player's Guide which asks us to consider: How is a TTRPG group like God?

We are taking a break from the podcast until the week after the week of November 15th. I have turned off the Patreon payments, so no one will be charged for October. Frankly, this podcast has been much more successful than I could have anticipated when we started. I cannot overstate how much we owe this community for its support in making that success possible. That said, we want to keep what you like and add more of what you love about the show. There will be some re-jiggering. If you have any strong opinions about what you like or what you don't, please feel free to email me at admin@readingdndaloud.net

If you give your villians psychology, do they lose their mythic status? Scott & Ben examine that and the debate between narrative-ism and game-ism in the TTRPG space on today's show!

Scott & Ben continue their exploration of spells as described in the DMG, and discover more examples of spells with contradictory instructions in the two AD&D corebooks!

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Regrettably, sources are confirming what we all fear: that Hasbro's digital future will leave little room for Dungeons & Dragons as we know it. Ben & Scott discuss. 

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Last week, the empty position of CEO at Wizards of the Coast was filled. But does it really matter at all when Chris Cocks, the gentleman who thought ending the OGL was a good idea is still running Hasbro? Ben and Scott discuss, and also talk over the spell light from both the 1st edition PHB and DMG. 

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Today, we take time to talk to the third voice of our show, Madeleine Craig! Madeleine is an actress and long-time DM who got her start with 5th edition.

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Given the racist tropes baked into the fantasy genre, how does the institution of D&D move forward into a brighter, better future? Are there also questions of stories for children versus stories for adults to be weighed? And all that is bookended by a discussion on spells in AD&D 1st edition.  

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Image by Mike Pape, and courtesy Wizards of the Coast. 

We read aloud "Tribal Spellcasting" from the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide, and reflect on how it codifies racist stereotypes into the game. We also read sections from "Hack the Orcs, Loot the Tomb, and Take the Land" by Daniel Heath Justice, which you can and should read here.  

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You will not hear a conversation like this anywhere else.

Was the D&D magic system an extension of the existing Western occult tradition, or a break from it? To answer that question, historian of magic, author, and eldritch librarian Dan Harms joins Dr. Scott Bruner, TTRPG academic, & Ben Riggs, D&D historian, for a discussion that takes us from real-world wandering medieval mage-priests to the pages of the blasphemous Necronomicon itself!

Dan recommended a few books for our audience:

Defining Magic: A Reader

Witch Bottles

The Book of Four Occult Philosophers

Authentic Thaumaturgy

The Necronomicon Files

We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best. 

When you cast Fireball, what really happens in the fiction of the game? Today, Scott Bruner & Ben Riggs take a look at that very question by continuing to examine the "Magic" chapter of the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide.

We enjoy you. Do you enjoy us? If so, support us on Patreon! You'll get access to our Discord server, and have the pleasure of knowing that deep down, you really are the best. 

Image by Jeff Easley and courtesy Wizards of the Coast.