Why We Roll is a streaming show and podcast about designing tabletop roleplaying games, hosted by Chris Pickett (Danse Macabre) and Wythe Marschall (Stillfleet).
Chris and Wythe host in-depth conversations with professional game designers with a focus on contemporary indie TTRPGs. They also occasionally run actual-play sessions and offer behind-the-scenes looks at the games they’re developing.
Topics covered to date include game-design inspirations and best practices, the politics of games, illustrating game concepts, cards as mechanics, character backstories, party formation, eco-catastrophes, epic powers and “boss fights,” espionage in games, faction rules, genres, “medieval” settings, hit points versus wounds, “madness” rules, safety at the table, solo RPGs, the OSR or even the NSR, what makes a game a game, what makes a system a system, product development, the business of indie RPGs, and so much more!
Why We Roll is recorded in Brooklyn and Queens, NYC.
Site
RSS
Apple
Data updated on 20/09/2026
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
WWR 98 ☉ Road Warriors w. David Piccolomini & Miel Markus
Thursday, September 17, 2026 • Duration 01:06:40
Wythe Marschall (Stillfleet, PICARO!) and Christopher Pickett (Danse Macabre) invite David Piccolomini and Miel Markus of Don't Go Broke Games back on Why We Roll to talk more about stand-up comedy, Forged in the Dark design, and the upcoming launch of their new comedy TTRPG, Road Warriors, as part of Gamefound's RPG Party 2026!
☉ FOLLOW THE CAMPAIGN: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/dgb-games/road-warriors
☉ Watch the official Why We Roll × Road Warriors actual play: https://www.youtube.com/live/H8o3Ik25I3A?si=fhtNsFVVHEoqlqo-
☉ Pick up the Road Warriors quick start, Beverage Goblin, and Hot Doctor Hospital from DGB: https://dgbgames.itch.io/
☉ Join the conversation on the Stillfleet Discord: https://discord.stillfleet.com
☉ Support WWR and Stillfleet Studio on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/stillfleet
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 97 ☉ All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions w. Benjamen Eastman
Thursday, September 10, 2026 • Duration 01:06:05
On this episode of WWR, Benjamin L. Eastman (A Lease on Art, All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions) joins Christopher Pickett (Danse Macabre) and Wythe Marschall (Stillfleet, PICARO!) to chat about Ben's (and Quarex's!) podcast All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions (AYIDAGC), steps towards getting freelance writing work in TTRPGs, adventure writing for cons and beyond, and more!
☉ Connect with All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions: https://linktr.ee/dreamaboutgamingconventions
☉ Find AYIDAGC events: https://linktr.ee/rageevents
Ben Eastman's TTRPG adventure writing and game design:
☉"Flickering Hope in Fusang" for Appndx N Jam 2026: https://eastmabl.itch.io/flickering-h...
— N.B., you can also get Wythe and Tony Grasso's Appndx N Jam entry: https://stillfleet.itch.io/the-weird-...
☉A Lease on Art (RPG Zine Club, Plus One Experience): https://plusoneexp.com/products/a-lea...
☉Defenestration of the Fell Queen on RPG Trader: https://rpg-trader.com/products/7520/...
☉Hastening Doom (Kobold Press): https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/produ...
☉Join the playtest for Risk & Roll at Gamehole Con: https://www.gameholecon.com/events/ev...
☉Stay tuned for Ben's adventure for Return to Dark Tower Fantasy Roleplaying (9th Level Games): https://9thlevel.com/products/return-...
☉Join the conversation on the Stillfleet Studio Discord: https://discord.stillfleet.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 96 ☉ Journeyman w. Zac Bir
Thursday, September 3, 2026 • Duration 01:07:24
On this episode of Why We Roll, Wythe and Chris sit down with Zac Bir, creator of the minimalist TTRPG Journeyman! We chat the history of the games we love, adapting fiction into TTRPG settings, and rule-light, trust-heavy design for maximum story telling.
☉ Late pledges are still open for Journeyman: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zacbir/journeyman
☉ Check out Zac's other work on Itch: https://zacbir.itch.io/
☉ Join the conversation on the Stillfleet Discord: https://discord.stillfleet.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 95 ☉ Sickest Witch w. Justin Sirois of Severed Books
Thursday, August 27, 2026 • Duration 01:09:08
Justin Sirois of Severed Books joins Wythe Marschall (Stillfleet, PICARO!) and Christopher Pickett (Danse Macabre) to talk about the multiple ENnie Award-nominee OSR fantasy horror TTRPG, Sickest Witch, as well as graphic design, running a truly indie publishing studio, Analog Union (of which we're both members), product design, and more.
☉ For all things Severed Books: https://severedbooks.com/
☉ Check out Sickest Witch: https://sickestwitch.com/
☉ The Grit System Game Jam is running until Aug 30th: https://stillfleet.com/gamejam2026
☉ Join the discussion on the Stillfleet Studio discord: https://discord.stillfleet.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 94 ☉ PICARO! w. HODAG RPG
Thursday, August 20, 2026 • Duration 01:16:27
Heads up! This episode was recorded in September of 2025, so if you hear some out-dated references... just blame Chris for editing this one late! On this episode, Wythe Marschall and Christopher Pickett talk to infamous mystery artist and proud Midwesterner HODAG RPG! We talk about art, the OSR, the Midwest, the new game PICARO! by Wythe and HODAG, the history of RPGs, the work of illustrating games, and much more. Fun fact: one time, HODAG released 52 games in one year!
☉ HODAG's blog: https://nofoesnotraps.wordpress.com/home/
☉ Find HODAG on Itch: https://hodagrpg.itch.io/
☉ Play PICARO! w. words by Wythe and illustrations by HODAG, published by our good buddies at Plus One Exp: https://plusoneexp.com/products/picaro
☉ For more from Stillfleet: https://stillfleet.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 93 ☉ ULTRADELVE w. Konstantine Paradias & Anthony Grasso
Thursday, August 13, 2026 • Duration 01:08:47
On this episode of Why We Roll: The Indie TTRPG Game Design Podcast of the Stillfleet Studio, Wythe Marschall (PICARO!, Stillfleet) and Christopher Pickett (Danse Macabre: Medieval Horror Roleplaying, Thrall) chat with narrative designer Konstantine Paradias, a video game writer and the author of the upcoming Stillfleet Studio modern sci-fi/alien dungeoncrawler TTRPG, ULTRADELVE. Also joining us is ULTRADELVE artist and graphic designer Anthony Grasso (Blister Critters, AMMU), who shares a ton of gorgeous, Euro-comic-inspired art from the book. We talk about Konstantine's work across video games (including Raft and many others), the pleasures of dumpster exploration, our mutual love for the Strugatsky Brothers' Roadside Picnic, how Kos and Tony worked together to develop a visual style for the game, and how the game plays.
☉ Learn all about Konstantine's work here: https://konstantinewrites.com/
☉ ULTRADELVE will be available here when it drops, along with most of Tony's (and all of our!) game work: https://stillfleet.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 92 ☉ Road Warriors AP with Don't Go Broke Games
Friday, August 7, 2026 • Duration 02:14:30
Wythe Marschall and Christopher Pickett play the new comedy TTRPG Road Warriors with creators David Piccolomini, Miel Markus, Daniel Metz of Don't Go Broke Games. Listen to us play not-quite-pro comedians on their first road tour together! Road Warriors is a super fun and easy-to-learn TTRPG using a modified Forged in the Dark System. Grab some friends and roll up your stand-up characters!
☉ Make sure to follow Road Warriors as it goes live on Gamefound, fall of '26; https://gamefound.com/en/projects/dgb-games/road-warriors?ref=explore
☉ Check out DGB Games' itch for more funny: https://dgbgames.itch.io/
☉FFor more from Stillfleet Studio: https://stillfleet.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 91 ☉ Axolotl with a Gun w. Bri de Dannan & Jon Boyle of Bright Bard Games
Thursday, July 30, 2026 • Duration 01:13:21
Christopher Pickett (Danse Macabre: Medieval Horror Roleplaying) and Wythe Marschall (Stillfleet, PICARO!) talk to Jon Boyle and Bri de Danann of Bright Bard Games about Axolotl With a Gun 2e, L.G.B.T. (Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser the game), whimsy in games, expanding/updating existing games, crowdfunds, dice pools, action movies, neotenic animals, and much more!
We learn facts about axolotls, briefly touch on food games (I Crave the Loop), dive into video-game elements in TTRPGs (coin-operated participation), talk convention sales, and get into direct action and games as political education. Bri and Jon are great, so if you don't know their work, give this episode a listen!
Key links:
☉Pick up games by Bright Bard: https://brightbardgames.com
☉ Go back L.G.B.T. – Longsword, Glock, Bat, Taser – on BackerKit: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/...
☉ Order Axolotl with a Gun: An Arcade-Style Roleplaying Game 2e: https://axolotl-with-a-gun-2e.backerk...
Follow Bri and Jon everywhere:
☉https://linktr.ee/brightbard
☉https://brightbardgames.itch.io
☉https://bridanann.itch.io
☉https://www.bridedanann.com
☉The Grit System Game Jam is running all summer ☞ https://stillfleet.com/gamejam2026
☉Join the conversation: https://discord.stillfleet.com
☉Support the show on Patreon https://patreon.com/stillfleet
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 90 ☉ The Sometimes Kingdom Zine 01: Monsoon w. Ethan Gould
Thursday, July 23, 2026 • Duration 01:09:19
Wythe Marschall (Stillfleet, PICARO!) and Christopher Pickett (Danse Macabre) chat with artist Ethan Gouldini (who illustrated the Stillfleet Core Rulebook and Qadida!) about The Sometimes Kingdom RPG—the climate-tastic, high-fantasy, arch-magical portal fantasy/alter-earth TTRPG using the Grit System, now available in print!
☉Pick up the game in print: https://stillfleet.com/products/the-s...
☉Download the PDF from Itch: https://stillfleet.itch.io/sometimes-...
Are you a game designer?
☉The Grit System Game Jam is running all summer ☞ https://stillfleet.com/gamejam2026
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WWR 89 ☉ Il Fantasma del Giallo w. Laurence Phillips
Thursday, July 16, 2026 • Duration 01:05:14
Wythe Marschall (Stillfleet, PICARO!) and Christopher Pickett (Danse Macabre: Medieval Horror Roleplaying) chat with Laurence Phillips from Hardy Roach Games on Why We Roll, the indie tabletop roleplaying game design podcast of the Stillfleet Studio.
We talk about Laurence's new cinema-inspired game, Il Fantasma del Giallo: The Phantom of the Yellow, which is going live on Kickstarter, summer 2026. In Il Fantasma, players are "disgraced actors trapped in a sequence of brutal Neo-Noir murder-mysteries." Laurence is the writer, artist, and layout artist!
☉ Back Il Fantasma del Giallo on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hardyroachgames/il-fantasma-del-giallo-an-rpg-of-violence-and-identity
☉ Read more about the game: https://hardyroachgames.co.uk/il-fantasma-del-giallo/
☉ Pick up Laurence's one-page games on Itch: https://hardyroachgames.itch.io
☉Join the conversation: https://discord.stillfleet.com
☉Support the show on Patreon: https://patreon.com/stillfleet
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
Discover shows related to Why We Roll, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.