Dice in Mind

Episode 37: Chris Birch of Modiphius

This week we are humbled to bring you our interview with Chris Birch, founder and CEO of Modiphius Entertainment.  The brain behind what has arguably become one of THE major RPG publishing houses on the planet, Chris was generous with his time and thoughts.  He also stressed an important point.  If you have an idea in mind, make it happen.  Write the story, design the game, put it out there.  As our favorite captain would advise, make it so.

Please check out Modiphius and buy their games.  You will be glad you did:

Modiphius Entertainment

Chris Birch founded Modiphius after running video games fashion label Joystick Junkies for 13 years and before that working in the dance music industry managing bands, tours and clubnights.  ​Chris first played D&D and Steve Jackson's OGRE aged 9 and grew up on a diet of RPG's, wargames, and boardgames before writing Starblazer Adventures and founding Modiphius.

 

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 36: Malcolm Sheppard

This week we chat with Malcolm Sheppard, developer at large with Green Ronin, who joins us to talk about his writer, editing, and all around creativity working with the AGE dice mechanic and the many cool games that utilize it.  Indeed, the interview ran long because of Malcolm's willingness to get into the weeds.  Enjoy!

Please check out these wonderful Modern AGE publications:

Modern AGE Quickstart
Modern AGE Basic Rulebook
Modern AGE Threefold

Green Ronin developer at large Malcolm Sheppard has over 20 years of experience in the RPG industry as a writer, designer, and developer, starting with work on the Mage: The Ascension line for White Wolf.  His other credits include work on Exalted, Shadowrun, Scion, Vampire: The Masquerade, numerous Chronicles of Darkness titles, Blue Rose, and Fantasy AGE.  Now at Green Ronin, his work focuses on the Modern AGE RPG, along with other AGE system works, though he's also developed Ork! The Roleplaying Game, and performed writing and editing duties for the Sword Chronicle RPG.  Malcolm lives in Ontario, Canada, and coaches historical fencing (rapiers and longswords and such) on the side.

 

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 35: Kelli Fitzpatrick

We are very pleased this week to chat with Kelli Fitzpatrick, author and editor with Modiphius Entertainment, who joins us to talk about Star Trek and so much more. Now studying toward her MFA, Kelli shares with us what it's like to serve as one of the lead writers on the Shackleton Expanse Campaign Guide, her early success as a writer, and what it means to be creative within one's writing.  It was a true pleasure chatting with such a lovely person and we hope you will enjoy listening to the interview as much as we had recording it.

Please purchase Kelli's writing.  You will NOT be disappointed:

Star Trek Adventures: Shackleton Expanse Campaign Guide
"The Sunwalkers" in Strange New Worlds 2016
KelliFitzpatrick.com

Kelli Fitzpatrick is an author, editor, and educator from Michigan. Her Star Trek story “The Sunwalkers” was selected as a winner of the Strange New Worlds contest and is published by Simon and Schuster. She currently writes and edits for the Star Trek Adventures role-playing game line from Modiphius Entertainment. Her fiction is published by Flash Fiction Online, KYSO Flash, Crazy 8 Press, and others, and her poetry appears in Dunes Review and Still Life. She took fourth place in the 2016 international NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge. Kelli’s essays analyzing science fiction media appear on StarTrek.com, Women at Warp blog, and in anthologies from ATB Publishing and Sequart. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Beaverton Activity Center and the Saginaw Bay Writing Project and is an advocate for public education, gender equality and representation, and support for the arts in all their forms. Find her on Twitter @KelliFitzWrites.

 

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 34: Expanding Our Universe

This week we review the Genesys Expanded Player's Guide, a wonderful addition to the system's core rulebook.  Along the way, we offer examples of how it has helped us think through our Star Trek adaptation.  And wait to you hear our big news in the GM Corner.  Exciting times are ahead!

Along the way, we refer to some interesting source material:

Genesys Expanded Player's Guide
Edge Studio
Moar! Monsters Know What They're Doing

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 33: Under the Microscope

This week we explore Microscope, a narrative-based roleplaying game, and how it can be used for developing homebrew games.  We then connect these ideas to the upcoming Star Trek Adventures Players Guide.  Along the way we share a pivot in our development plans for a Genesys adaptation for RPGing in Star Trek canon.  Hit it!

Along the way, we refer to some interesting source material:

Microscope
Star Trek Adventures Player's Guide

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 32: Someone Call a Mechanic?

We return this week to issues of mechanics.  Specifically, we question the various ways one might adapt the mechanics of their favorite published games to their own tables. We focus on the dice, eventually talk character sheets, and invariably ramble a bit along the way as we give a shout to a lot of different games and systems.

Along the way, we also highlight a few examples of especially interesting source material:

Green Ronin
Modiphius
DriveThruRPG

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 31: Opening the Book

For the first time in a long time, we waited to record an episode until the evening before so that we could share our initial impressions of the brand new The Book of Boba Fett (on Disney+) as it pertains to RPGing. We also might have gotten slightly off the track toward the end of the discussion. Regardless, how to you think the new show can inform your own gaming? Drop us a line on Twitter and let us know!

@diceminmind

Along the way, we refer to some interesting source material:

The Book of Boba Fett
Tatooine Manhunt
Cable Television

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 30: Timm Woods

It's Episode 30...and the Count to 100 continues!  This week we chat with Dr. Timm Woods, professional gamester, author, and educator who joins us to talk about his scholarship and work in roleplaying.  We suspect you will find Timm to be as kind of a person as we did.

Please check out (and purchase!) Timm's book:

Random Tables: Cities and Towns

Also, consider booking Timm for your next event!

Dr. Timm Woods has been teaching and running tabletop RPGs professionally for over 12 years. He runs game events for students in afterschool programs, families, companies, and groups of friends. Timm received his PhD at St. John’s University on game-based education and the use of RPGs in the classroom. He partnered with A24 to design the Green Knight RPG in coordination with the film’s release, and has a published volume of Random Tables for Game Masters available for sale wherever books are sold.

 

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 29: Therapy with Dr. Culber

In this episode, we follow up to our recent Twitter post about the portrayal of psychotherapy in Star Trek: Discovery. That post garnered a lot of views (nearly 9400!) and we wanted to talk openly about the importance of psychological health and how RPGs can contribute to it. You can join the conversation by posting your feedback to us on Twitter! @diceminmind

If you are struggling, please reach out to someone.  Here is a place to start:  Crisis Hotlines and Resources

Along the way, we also refer to some interesting source material and people:

Wilson Cruz
Star Trek: Discovery Writers
Mary Wiseman
Shelly Mazzanoble
Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Source Comics & Games

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 28: Homebrew Pew Pew

In this episode, we debate the relative merits of being creative beyond canon in some of our favorite RPGs.  When does an adaptation or novel idea become a homebrew?  Does it matter whether it is an issue of timeline, content, rules, or mechanics?  Join us for the conversation by posting your feedback to us on Twitter!

@diceminmind

Along the way, we refer to some interesting source material:

Titansgrave
Modern AGE
Harry Turtledove
Source Comics & Games

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs!  In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).