Dice Exploder

Sam Dunnewold
  • 3.0 (1)
  • DESIGN

A show about tabletop RPG design. Each episode we bring you a single mechanic and break it down as deep as we possibly can. Co-hosted by Sam Dunnewold and a rotating roster of designers. Part of the Many Sided Network. diceexploder.com

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Love, Sex, and Romance: Physical Touch with Alex & Sharang

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com In this final episode hosted by Sharang and Alex, perhaps their climactic episode, they are turning up the heat on sex mechanics all the way to physical contact, both as a way to simulate sex acts through other kinds of physical touch... and through actual sex acts being used as game mechanics. This stuff is fascinating, I think much more broadly applicable than you might believe at first blush, and I think also very obviously under discussed in the way that all things sex and sexuality are under discussed. Let's get into it. Further Reading The Sleepover by Kat Jones & Julia B. Ellingboe This interview by Lizzie Stark with Emma Wieslander, who created Ars Amandi for the 2001 larp Between Heaven and Sea A Place to Fuck Each Other by Avery Alder Kirigami Dominatrix Display Simulator by Aura Belle Praise the Hawkmoth King by sage the anagogue Vice & Violence by Scalli ORKFUCK by SympatheticSapphic Sapphicworld by Darling Demon Games Socials Alex on Bluesky and carrd Sharang on Bluesky and itch Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    44 min

  2. 19 AUG

    Love, Sex, and Romance: The Phallus with Alex & Sharang

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Our series on game mechanics centered around sex and romance continues with returning champions Alex Roberts and Sharang Biswas, and today they are talking about dicks. “The phallus.” Or more generally, physical objects. I did some episodes on physicality earlier this year and how the physicality of a game undeniably affects how it feels to play it. But Alex and Sharang go a step further, talking about how in a game you can use an object as almost a vessel for player emotions. Take a listen. Further Reading Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife by Julia Bond Ellingboe The Beast by Aleksandra Sontowska Just a Little Lovin’ by Tor Kjetil Edland and Hanne Grasmo Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire Let These Mermaids Touch Your Dick Maybe by Riverhouse Games Socials Alex on Bluesky and carrd Sharang on Bluesky and itch Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    35 min

  3. 12 AUG

    Love, Sex, and Romance: Roll to Seduce with Alex & Sharang

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Alex Roberts and Sharang Biswas are back for round two, this time with “roll to seduce,” that classic action so many people try and even succeed at taking across any number of games. If I roll high enough on my persuasion check, surely the dragon will fuck me instead of killing us, right? In some games, yes! Right indeed! This is such a weird dynamic, but clearly so appealing to so many people, and today Alex and Sharang get into the why and how of it all. That leads to all kinds of places, but in particular the seductive choice to quantify sex and romance, but put a number to all these ephemeral and scary ideas about sex and romance, presumably so we might better understand them or be able to avoid dealing with how potentially embarrassing and messy they can be. Further Reading The Book of Erotic Fantasy by Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel and Duncan Scott Love and Sex in the 9th World by by Shanna Germain Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos Alex Roberts on Dice Exploder discussing Kagematsu Fog of Love by Jacob Jaskov Bluebeard’s Bride by Whitney “Strix” Beltran, Marissa Kelly, & Sarah Doom Socials Alex on Bluesky and carrd Sharang on Bluesky and itch Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    49 min

  4. 5 AUG

    Love, Sex, and Romance: Sex Moves (Apocalypse World) with Alex & Sharang

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Love, sex, and romance: huge human topics, wildly under-discussed in roleplaying games. At least in my opinion. So today on Dice Exploder we’re kicking off a new miniseries on the subject hosted by NOT ME. Instead, for the next four episodes, Alex Roberts (Star Crossed, For the Queen) and Sharang Biswas (editor of Honey and Hot Wax) are taking over the show to bring you all things love and sex. And today they’re kicking off with an episode on sex moves from Apocalypse World and Monsterhearts, classic PBTA moves that trigger when two characters have sex. Let’s get into it! Further Reading Apocalypse World by Meguey & Vincent Baker Monsterhearts 2 by Avery Alder My Girl’s Sparrow by Troels Ken Pedersen How Do Aliens Do “It”? by Kieron Gillen Pop! by Alex Roberts, found in Honey and Hot Wax, edited by Sharang Biswas and L. Kahn Socials Alex on Bluesky and carrd Sharang on Bluesky and itch Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Dice Exploder on Patreon

    44 min

  5. 1 JUL

    Rolling the Dice... On Camera! (The Die Guys) with Moira Joy Smith

    Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Moira Joy "MJ" Smith is the Dungeon Master for the Try Guys D&D actual play show "The Die Guys". She created the show in 2024 along with the Try Guys, and I was her right-hand dude during production and the show's video editor. Today, ahead of a whole series I have planned later this fall on actual play, MJ and I sit down to talk about how we made The Die Guys. We start with a bunch of background - how shows get made for YouTube at large, how the Try Guys specifically make shows, and how this show came about - but we get granular to, all the way down to how I made choices in the edit about whether to leave in or cut individual jokes. Further Reading The Try Guys streaming service, where you can find The Die Guys season 2 The Die Guys episode 1 on YouTube Socials Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Support Dice Exploder on Patreon!

    1h 51m

  6. 24 JUN · BONUS

    Afterimage: City of Winter

    Dice Exploder: Afterimage is a new show format I'm trying, a mashup of This American Life with a play report. I have a box full of memories that lives in my closet, a pair of drumsticks, a half smoked cigar, a thimble full of sand from a beach I've never been to. If I passed away and you were cleaning out my closet, you would look at this box and you would know it was important, but you wouldn't know why. You wouldn't know whose funeral I played at with those drumsticks, or on which rooftop in my hometown, I smoked that half a cigar. But you would feel their weight all the same... Written, edited, and performed by Sam Dunnewold Transcript available at www.diceexploder.com City of Winter at Heart of the Deernicorn Music by Blue Dot Sessions: https://app.sessions.blue/ My games: sdunnewold.itch.io Follow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/diceexploder.com

    32 min

  7. 17 JUN · BONUS

    Afterimage: Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast

    Dice Exploder: Afterimage is a new show format I'm trying, a mashup of This American Life with a play report. When I was in the third grade, there was this cartoon that aired while I was coming home from school, so I could only ever watch the second half of episodes. The name of that show was Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast... or was that the name of a tabletop roleplaying game? Written, edited, and performed by Sam Dunnewold Transcript available at www.diceexploder.com Music by Blue Dot Sessions: https://app.sessions.blue/ My games: sdunnewold.itch.io Follow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/diceexploder.com

    21 min

  8. 3 JUN · BONUS

    Party by the Apocalypse preview: an Apocalypse World sex scene

    Hello and welcome to Party by the Apocalypse, an actual play miniseries where we play Apocalypse World while breaking down how it works and the choices we're making as players so you can learn how to better play it. Party by the Apocalypse is Dice Exploder’s first foray into actual play, and the whole thing is out right now wherever you get your podcasts. In the full show, we over any number of mechanics and how they play out at the table: character creation, violence and combat, player vs player, prep, and more. But today on the Dice Exploder main feed I wanted to bring you a taste of the show featuring a part of Apocalypse World I find people are often intimidated by: the sex moves. What does the conversation look like around a sex scene in Apocalypse World, both mechanically and just as people? For one answer, come take a listen. Party by the Apocalypse is: Sam Dunnewold of Dice Exploder, a podcast about rpg designAaron King of RTFM, an rpg book club podcastKeganEXE of PlusOneEXP, a publisher of rpgsEssay of Three of Hearts, an actual play podcastTheme music: Phantasm by Purely Grey

    22 min
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About

A show about tabletop RPG design. Each episode we bring you a single mechanic and break it down as deep as we possibly can. Co-hosted by Sam Dunnewold and a rotating roster of designers. Part of the Many Sided Network. diceexploder.com

Information

  • Creator
    Sam Dunnewold
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Sam Dunnewold
  • Show Website
    Dice Exploder

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