Unwritten Earths Symposium – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Unwritten Earths Symposium

Leisure

Arts

Frequency: 1 episode/15d. Total Eps: 41

Welcome to the Unwritten Earths Symposium! In each episode, tabletop RPG designers Nathan D. Paoletta and Epidiah Ravachol try to trick each other into designing a game they wouldn't otherwise make.

Site

RSS

Apple

Data updated on 05/07/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullwinkle_and_Rocky_Role-Playing_Party_Game
5 shares

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 63%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

Plus Expenses #118

Season 2 · Episode 41

Wednesday, July 1, 2026 • Duration 50:32

Plus Expenses is our bonus show for Patrons, dropping every other week between our regular episodes. This one is on the public feed for everyone, to round out our Origins Interviews episode with our reflections on the convention. Thanks so much for listening - if you dig this, you can get it for just $5 a month over at our Patreon!

In this Plus Expenses, we talk about: The Origins interviews, how the convention felt, “networking”, being a two-session guy, Imp of the Perverse, DriveThru Deal of the Day, decision-making for Games on Demand, good playtest/bad session, energy use during games, Eppy’s bluesky post about AI - it won’t help you!, refreshingly human-made focus at the dealer hall, Eppy’s dice adventure, character sheet usage for different contexts, live Swords sheets feedback and development, a Swords Without Master story, a Mortal Skein (playtest) story and playtesting philosophy, our White Whale Episode, not recognizing things when they work, and if you want more of this, sign up for our Patreon - only $5 a month!

And there's more:

Read moreCollapse

The Origins 2026 Interviews Episode

Season 2 · Episode 40

Wednesday, June 24, 2026 • Duration 02:46:32

We went to Origins Game Fair! It was a great time, and we were lucky enough to catch up with old friends and chat with new ones for the show. This episode consists of 6 in-person interview/conversations with game designers, GMs and publishers about Origins, Games on Demand, boothing, and game design theory and practice. We felt extremely fortunate to have the chance to chat with all of these incredible folks, and hope you enjoy the conversations!

General Note: These were captured on a shared mic in shared spaces, so the audio quality is... informal. We think it's all listenable but you'll notice variations from interview to interview.

The Interviews:

Dr. Evan Torner - We talk about Games on Demand at Origins, and playtesting. Check out Analog Game Studies and Evan's work in LARP and tabletop
Jim Crocker - We talk about "the year of no hustle" and managing your relationship to the hobby as someone who also makes their living in it
"Indie Games Here!" Booth - We talk about boothing at Origins with Viditya Voleti (A Land Once Magic), Brian Flaherty and Elliot Davis (Many Sided Media, moreblueberries), and Nell and Ali of spilledcoffeecreatives
Gene Koo - We talk about The Bonsai Diary and cultivating communities of practice (like Designed in the DMV)

The Sexy Episode

Season 2 · Episode 39

Wednesday, June 10, 2026 • Duration 01:05:37

It's the summer, which means time for a sweaty, exciting episode about... distribution platforms! A new challenger has entered the arena, and we discuss the role of these digital marketplaces as part of actually getting games into peoples hands, the features and constraints they each have and how those can shape the design of your business, and what's exciting about this new option, rpg-trader.com. Note: we have no relationship with the site other than (as of this release) adding our products to it to see how it goes.

On this episode, we discuss the following platforms:

Show Notes:

Our Wisdom Episode (in which we discuss using your game design skills to design your business)
The "Indie RPG Bookshelf" Nathan was recalling was also called the Unstore, and appears to no longer be a going concern
Tabletop Bookshelf (Retailer)
Ten Acre Games
Gumroad controversys include: banning adult content (2024), laying off workers, and (2025)

The Prompts & Standards Episode

Season 2 · Episode 38

Wednesday, May 27, 2026 • Duration 01:02:06

We come back from a brief sabbatical to consider a bundle of topics from our Scholars. We talk about prompts in truly true roleplaying games (and reclaiming them from their AI-related meaning), things in our lives we've adopted from games and that we adapt into our game design, and different interpretations of the idea of a "standard" in game design. An assumption, yes, but what about a mode of experimentation, like a Jazz Standard? This is one of our more after-hours style conversations that touches on lots of the things we're always thinking about.

Show Notes:

Jorge Luis Borges Quote (from The Garden of Forking Paths): "Writing long books is a laborious and impoverishing act of foolishness: expanding in five hundred pages an idea that could be perfectly explained in a few minutes. A better procedure is to pretend that those books already exist and to offer a summary, a commentary."
Asa Donald/Backwards Tabletop
Poul Anderson, author of The Broken Sword and Three Hearts and Three Lions
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
Jack Vance's Dying Earth

Games Mentioned:

The Works In Progress Episode

Season 2 · Episode 37

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 • Duration 01:05:49

Nathan and Eppy finally turn in their spring semester homework, discussing where they are at with The Marian and Robin Roleplaying Party Game (and spinners!), and Fair Winds and Following Seas (and music!), respectively. Informed by both formal exploration and input from Scholars over at our Discord, both of these games are starting to get somewhere.

Show Notes:

Two Hundred a Day "Live" Episode with Emily Care Boss
Numberphile "Cones Are Messed Up" (Martini Glass Video)
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men (BBC series)

Games Mentioned:

Remember Tomorrow
Bullwinkle & Rocky Role-Playing Party Game
Jason Morningstar’s The Skeletons
Rogue Trader (2009), but Nathan was probably playing Dark Heresy (2008)

And there's more:

The Haters Episode

Season 2 · Episode 36

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 • Duration 59:01

No, this isn't about games we don't like; following up on a question from our Wisdom Episode, we talk about the parts of making games that are not fun, from merely boring all the way to actively hate. This turns into a conversation about how we get through those periods, how the unique nature of truly true roleplaying games makes perfection impossible, and harnessing the hate that flows through you for good. We balance that out with an update on something we're loving right now, the incoming artwork for Swords Without Master!

Nathan's game Mortal Skein is out! Here's the playtest materials on itch.

Show Notes:

Great Courses: English Grammar Boot Camp
CSS
Tailwind CSS
Pomodoro Technique
Forest Timer App (the tree-growing one)
Will Jobst's Plasmodics: Mutant Freaks in the Weird Future

Swords Artists:

Shel Kahn
Jabari Weathers
GORAN
Simon Roy
Big Bluesky Thread of the Swords artists

The Wisdom Episode

Season 2 · Episode 35

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 • Duration 50:36

As is tradition on this first day of April, we're going through some of the wisdom we've accumulated as self-publishers over the years, in hopes it'll help out those who are starting their game design journey. We try to address some of the basic questions that you might not know you should be asking, and talk about the core work of finding an audience, benefits and drawbacks of different kinds of conventions, designing your business like it's a game, and starting small in order to give yourself the space to learn and grow. If there's any fools today it's going to be us, but hopefully this is helpful - and if raises further questions, please get in touch so we can continue this conversation!

Show Notes:

And there's more:

The (First) Mailroom Episode

Season 2 · Episode 34

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 • Duration 53:21

In this episode, we visit the mailroom to field some listener questions! We discuss design rituals that we each have, the experience of having games or mechanics fall flat for us in play, and some potential homework for future episodes. The conversation includes digressions into spinner design, playtesting our way out of mechanics that don't work, and how we approach disappointing experiences as something to learn from. Thanks for all the mail!

Shoutouts to: Playtest Tuesday, The Imaginauts, and Paul Czege

Games Mentioned:

Bullwinkle & Rocky Role Playing Party Game
Slugblaster
Prince Valiant: The Story-Telling Game
A Sword Points South (a work-in-progress from Eppy)
Night’s Black Agents / Dracula Dossier
GURPS
Wushu: The Ancient Art of Action Roleplaying
Imp of the Perverse

And there's more:

The Hacks Episode

Season 2 · Episode 33

Wednesday, March 4, 2026 • Duration 01:00:55

In this episode, Nathan and Eppy report back about their "do this with that" homework assignment. Eppy debuts The Marion and Robin Party Roleplaying Game, and Nathan outlines how Remember Tomorrow reconfigures Fair Winds and Following Seas. Then, we reflect on how using other games as the basis of new work (hacks, if you will) can be a really helpful part of the game design process.

Show Notes:

Eppy plays Swords Without Master with New Edge Sword & Sorcery
New Edge's 2026 Backerkit (runs through March 14!)
List of Games that Blew our Minds, courtesy of Camilla Zamboni

Games Mentioned:

And there's more:

The Mind-Blown Episode

Season 2 · Episode 32

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Duration 56:33

Nathan and Eppy assigned homework off-mic, to discuss some games that showcase thinking about games in a way we never would have, or that made such an impression on us that we've made them part of our toolkits. We discuss what we mean by our minds being blown, then go over our lists. Then, we assign homework for next episode: to sketch out what one of our works-in-progress would look like, if we used one of our mind-blowing influences as a model! We're still aiming to make new games this season, and this was a really productive conversation to help us both along.

Show Notes:

Friday the 13th: The Series
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Avery Alder
Central Michigan University Press is republishing The Mountain Witch Art & System: Games for Expanded Play

Games Mentioned:

Unwritten Earths Symposium – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Unwritten Earths Symposium – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

Wikipedia58

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

Wikipedia58

Patreon4