Reading D&D Aloud – Details, episodes & analysis

This is an RPG historian you have to hear from.

Shannon Appelcline. He's the mind behind Designers & Dragons, which chronicles our hobby's wild past, from basement print runs to global pop culture phenomenon. Shannon has done the research, interviewed the legends, and connected the dots between decades of dice-rolling history. So grab your character sheet, because today, we're diving deep into how our favorite games became the worlds we live in.

Back Shannon's current project, Dungeons & Dragons: Origins here!

On Patreon, I posted my Gamehole Con seminar where I went over 18 years of leaked D&D sales data. You can enjoy it posthaste if you subscribe to my Patreon! It's only $3 a month! Click here!

 

What do Cormac McCarthy, Charles Dickens, & Scheherazade say to each other on the podcast? Today, we find out! 

First up, we have Meguey Baker: game designer, textile historian, and one of the most revolutionary voices in the history of tabletop gaming. You might know her from 1001 Nights, Psi-Run, or her work on Apocalypse World, a game that cracked open an entire design movement. Meguey's games invite players to explore power, intimacy, and identity with uncommon grace, they whisper truths in a world that's used to shouting. She's proof that you don't need a sword to change the game. Sometimes, all you need is a question and a well-set stage.

Next up is the man lucky enough to be married to Meguey, Vincent Baker, the other half of the mad team that gifted fandom Apocalypse World, whether we would have it or no. A mad scientist of narrative mechanics, Vincent looked at D&D's six stats and thought, "Cute, but what if we had Hot and Cool instead?"

Vincent is the co-creator of Apocalypse World, maker of The Barbarian's Bloody Quest, and a host of games that re-wired how designers think about fiction, failure, and fun.

The fingerprints of the Bakers are everywhere, from Monsterhearts to Blades in the Dark. Their design DNA has gone viral in the best possible way.

Last but by no means least, we have John Harper, the noir poet of the tabletop, the guy who made crime, chaos, and consequence sing in Blades in the Dark. John's work fuses cinematic cool with mechanical precision. He builds worlds where danger is stylish, failure fascinating, and every die roll feels like a drumbeat.

If tabletop games had a film noir auteur, it'd be this guy.

Buy one of John's many fine games here.

Be notified about the Apocalypse World: Burned Over Kickstarter by clicking here.  

A quick note. We've had a delay on publishing my Gamehole Con seminar. It should be up in 48 hours, but if you were looking for a link here, I wanted you to know about it.

-Ben

An in-depth conversation with two of the most remarkable adventure-writers working today: Luke Gearing & Leo Hunt!

Luke Gearing, is an incredible voice in the tabletop RPG world. His work includes Acid Death Fantasy for Troika!, the epic and disturbing Gradient Descent for Mothership and the Wages of Sin bounty book. His work is gritty, evocative, and dare I say delightfully lurid at times. 

Leo Hunt is a brilliant adventure designer. The second edition of Vaults of Vaarn just funded, and I backed it, but I am most intrigued by his adventure The Shrike, which the back of the book describes as "A huge modular sandbox adventure setting in an abandoned fragment of Hell- a colossal blade dedicated to punishing a nameless God."

To support Luke's work, buy Mothership here, or check out his Itch.io page here!

Find more of Leo's distinctive RPG flavors here!

Today, enjoy this conversation between 3rd edition D&D lead designer Jonathan Tweet and TTRPG historians Shannon Appelcline and Ben Riggs! They discuss one of the hotbeds of gaming ferment, St. Olaf College, which produced nerd legends like Lisa Stevens, Mark Rein-Hagen, Nicole Lindroos, and Tweet himself. Then they move on to discuss one of the most influential games of all time: ARS MAGICA.

Because Ben is a nerd, he wrote poems introducing the pair of them:

This is a poem named Jonathan Tweet: 

Behold the mage of rules, whose art is deep,

The spellwright bold, our guest Jonathan Tweet.

From ARS MAGICA's birth to d20's grand reign,

His hand has shaped the games that fire the brain.

With visions vast, mechanics deft and true,

He forged new worlds for countless fans to view.

Tonight we call his wisdom to our show,

To learn how tales of wizards first did grow.

This is a poem named Shannon Appelcline:

Behold the sage who tracks our gaming lore,

The chronicler of nerdy days of yore.

From Designers & Dragons he drops the whole score,

The wins, the fails, the beefs, the stats, and more.

So buckle up folks, 'cause tonight we're online,

With gaming's hot chronicler, Shannon Appelcline.

You can find Shannon's latest history, THIS IS FREE TRADER BEOWULF, here.

Jonathan suggest you check out his book on evolution for kids, GRANDMOTHER FISH, here.

And you can always buy Ben's book, SLAYING THE DRAGON: A SECRET HISTORY OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, which is excellent, here.

Our guest tonight is a giant in the realms — literally and figuratively. Richard Baker is a legendary Dungeons & Dragons designer, novelist, and world-builder whose fingerprints are all over the game we love. He's helped shape settings like the Forgotten Realms, Birthright, and Alternity. He designed iconic adventures. He wrote novels that bring fantasy worlds roaring to life. With all that experience, it is certain sure Rich knows how to roll natural 20s on creativity. So grab your dice and brace for adventure — Richard Baker is in the house!

Support the podcast and get extra content on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/u121641556?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

D&D is bigger than it has ever been, but being a D&D fan in 2025 is deeply confusing. 

The questions come on and on.

• Why do extensive promotion of a virtual tabletop for D&D, Sigil, and then give it no marketing at rollout and kill it a month later? 
• Why has there been an exodus of staff from the company? 
• Why, after a golden age during the game's 5th edition, has Wizards struggled to find traction since the debut of 2024 D&D?

In this seminar from Gen Con 2025, I try to answer a bunch of these questions. 

Listen, and enjoy!

Support the podcast and get extra content on Patreon here!

Is Wizards messing this up? We discuss with two titans of the TTRPG industry!

First up, David M. Ewalt – journalist, editor, and author of the engaging and wonderful Of Dice and Men. He is currently the editor in chief of Scientific American, which may make him the most prestigious personage I've ever had on this podcast. He is also the author of Defying Reality: The Inside Story of the Virtual Reality Revolution and has worked at Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. Welcome David! 

And then there's Sean McCoy, the creative whirlwind behind Mothership, the award-winning sci-fi horror RPG that has taken the RPG scene by storm. Mothership is tense, terrifying, totally unforgettable, and yet somehow rules light! He is without a doubt a hot shot of 21st century game design, and he's a real "get" for the podcast. Welcome Sean!

Support the podcast and get extra content on Patreon here!

This week, we go deep into the Old School Revolution with Old School Essentials creator Gavin Norman and Josh McCrowell of His Majesty the Worm!

Gavin Norman is the mind behind some of the most exciting work in the modern OSR scene. He is best known for Old-School Essentials, the gold standard for clean, accessible retro-gaming rules that have brought thousands of new players into old-school play. His work doesn't just celebrate the roots of tabletop RPGs—it refines them, making them sing with clarity and style. If you've ever cracked open an OSE book, you know exactly what I mean: sharp design, killer layout, and an unwavering love for the game. Gavin Norman is, simply put, one of the defining voices of today's old-school revolution.

Josh McCrowell is the creator of His Majesty the Worm—a deeply weird, beautiful, and melancholy dungeon crawler that uses tarot cards as its core mechanic. It's also up for an ENNIE this year! Josh is also one of the brains behind Knock Magazine, that gloriously chaotic love letter to the DIY RPG scene, packed with ideas, art, and inspiration. His work blends creativity with a genuine sense of wonder. Josh McCrowell is a designer who reminds us that the dungeon isn't just for killing monsters—it's for exploring what it means to be alive.

Find Gavin's work on OSE here! https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/pages/old-school-essentials

Acquire Josh's brilliant game here:

https://www.hismajestytheworm.games/#h.mvmqxy70j0s9

Ben's Gen Con seminar this year is entitled "Solving the Mysteries of the D&B Business." He's interviewed dozens of former and current WotC employees, and has real answers to questions we all have about the game.

Why do extensive promotion of a virtual tabletop for D&D, Sigil, and then give it no marketing at rollout and kill it a month later?

Why has there been an exodus of staff from the company?

Why, after a golden age during the game's 5th edition, has Wizards struggled to find traction since the debut of 2025 D&D?

These questions and more Ben will attempt to answer in his sold-out Gen Con seminar!

Given demand, Ben is going to livestream a rehearsal of the show on Zoom on Tuesday, July 29th, at 9 PM EST/ 6 PM PST. But the only way you can listen is by being a Patreon subscriber! It's only $3 a month. Click here to join now!

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=121641556&utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

My guest tonight is a legend in the world of game design and storytelling. Richard Dansky is best known as the mind behind some of the darkest and most compelling corners of the World of Darkness. He served as the developer for Wraith: The Oblivion and helped shape the haunting masterpiece Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah, one of the most powerful books ever written for a roleplaying game.

But Richard''s also a veteran of the video game industry, working as a writer and narrative designer. My favorites there include the 2004 Far Cry and Driver. He's a novelist, a storyteller, and someone who knows how to make horror feel deeply, uncomfortably human. Cough cough soulforging.

My next guest is a name well-known to fans of classic fantasy RPGs—Lou Prosperi. Lou was the developer of Earthdawn at FASA, the beloved post-apocalyptic fantasy game where magic, horror, and high adventure collide. His work helped define the rich, mythic tone of that setting, making Earthdawn one of the most unique fantasy RPGs of the 1990s.

I would like to start with a summary of the book we are going to discuss, and just to be clear, we will be covering some disturbing stuff today. I cried reading this book, which I think is a first for a TTRPG book, and it would not surprise me if I cried during this discussion, so I am just laying that out there now.  

Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah is a profound, unsettling supplement that turns the Holocaust into a haunting Wraith narrative—melding historical documentation with metaphysical resonance.

It looks at what happens when millions of dead arrive in the afterlife all at once. It causes a crisis in the hierarchy, the rather nasty government ruling the western afterlife. The response is actually quite remarkable. In an arrangement called the Covenant of the Millions, they decide to give space to the dead of the Shoah for them to govern themselves. They also decide to allow the Shoah dead to hunt down Nazis in the afterlife.  

Its strength lies in its gravity and respect for the subject: it's not a casual horror romp, but a rigorous, emotionally charged exploration.

For Storytellers aiming to address trauma, memory, and unresolved spirits, this book offers compelling—and deeply sobering—tools.

It's from White Wolf's Black Dog Gaming imprint, which means Use with care: it's intended for mature, sensitive gamers, and its impact depends heavily on tone, preparation, and player trust.

I'd say the same for this conversation.

You can pick up Lou's great books on Disney's imagineering here!

Read Rich's book on surviving the video game industry as a writer here!

This one's a banger: D&D designer Steve Winter meets Ben Milton of Questing Beast!

Ben Milton is a game designer, YouTube sage, and sorceror-king of the OSR demigod! He's the mind behind Knave 2e and the force behind Questing Beast, your portal to the wild, weird wonders of old-school RPGs. If you like sharp rules, deadly dungeons, and freedom at the table, Ben's your guy.

And don't sleep on Steve Winter — a living D&D legend. From sneaking into TSR through a second-story window to shaping 2e, 3e, and beyond, Steve has been part of D&D's DNA for decades.

Tune in. Nerd out. 🎲🔥

Find Knave here, and Ben's YouTube channel here!

Tuesday, July 15th at 9 PM EST, Patrons of the show will be able to join a live book discussion on Charnal Houses of Europe: The Shoah. The conversation will include the book's developer, Richard Dansky, and Earthdawn developer Lou Prosperi. But only Patrons can participate live! Click here to back the show and participate in the conversation!