DiceCast™ is a podcast about roleplaying games (RPGs) and related hobbies produced by Polymancer Studios, Inc.. Episodes of DiceCast are always about topics that are of interest to gamers of all kinds (and for RPGs, this means both players and gamemasters) as well as special topics for freelance writers and artists. Other news about Polymancer® Studios, such as new opportunities for freelance writers and artists as well as new product announcements, are included in the cast.
In this episode, we interview Andrew and JD from Boolean Union about their recent animated film adaptation of the infamous Jack Chick tract "Dark Dungeons." Their work is a serious adaptation of a work that is inherently funny. It is produced to a very high level of quality. We found Andrew and JD to be as animated as their movie, articulate, and perceptive in our interview. And for the record, they are not in the least bit "anti-game."
In brief, "Dark Dungeons" is a short comic book (called a "tract") about a teenaged girl who gets swept away into the occult from playing a fictitious RPG called "Dark Dungeons" (which, as described, is D&D in all but name). The comic contains a number of amusing misconceptions about RPGs, including the notion that players can start to believe that they really are their characters or that the goal of RPGs is to make people learn how to cast "real spells." It has gained a cult following among roleplayers for its humor value.
Links
The Dark Dungeons Movie. The producers encourage everyone to link to it and share it with their friends.
We close off 2010 and welcome in 2011 with an awesome selection of interviews, many of them with people who have never appeared on a podcast before.
Our first interview is with David Pulver, RPG freelance writer extraordinaire. Fans of GURPS® and Transhuman Space™ by Steve Jackson Games will know his work well. Pulver also revised Big Eyes, Small Mouth by Guardians Of Order for that game's second edition and also for that game's third edition, which was published by White Wolf. In this interview, Pulver talks about his background in games, writing, and about how he researches his technologically-oriented works. N.B. this interview was originally recorded for print and thus, little regard was made for sound quality; while we apologize for the poor sound quality, every step was taken to ensure Mr. Pulver's words were understandable and we are confident that what he had to say more than makes up for the audio.
Next up, we have a truly Foundational member of the roleplaying game pantheon, Marc Miller. As a founder and an original author for the celebrated Traveller roleplaying game and setting, Miller has left his mark on tens of thousands of worlds. In this interview, Miller discusses how Traveller was created and how he got started in game design. Marc Miller also expresses his heartfelt appreciation for his fans.
In the "blast from the past" department, we unearthed an old interview with Eric Gibson of the (now defunct) West End Games. Done back when Gibson had new plans to release the d6 System under the terms of the Open Gaming License, this interview offers a glimpse into what could have been for this much beloved roleplaying game. Gibson also speaks frankly about what happened with the Septimus RPG (now published by Precis Intermedia Games (PIG).
We include an interview with a volunteer from Geekfest Montreal, recorded at that convention's 2010 debut. This interview offers insight into what it takes to run a large, technology and game-themed multimedia event. N.B., a longer interview with the same person is available, in French, at our other podcast, Royale With Cheese.
This is followed by a brief interview with a volunteer from iMusee.org, a museum dedicated to the preservation of vintage personal computers. Their fascinating collection includes such specimens as an original NeXt computer and a "first edition" Apple Macintosh from 1984. This interview is also available in French on the Royale With Cheese podcast.
The last interview on this show is with Mitch Morris of the Ninjas vs. Pirates game company and the podcast by the same name. Morris talks about his theories of game design and his company's premier product, a card game called Shennanigans on the Eighth Sea.
We close the show with some thoughts on the events of 2010 and their implications for the hobby game industry and the professions of freelance writing and freelance art.
This episode features more interviews from Fan Expo 2010, an annual sci fi, fantasy, horror, anime, and gaming convention held in Toronto. Most importantly, we interview noted writer and game designer Robin D. Laws. There is a bonus special "wordless" appearance by William Shatner.
We also interview Lee-Ann Farruga of Steampunk Canada, new Star Wars® fan film "Saber Legend" director Cal Drew, Red Herring of Red Herring Products discusses her sci fi burlesque show "Babes In Space."
Links
Fan Expo, held every year at the Metro Toronto Convention Center on the weekend before Labor Day.
In this episode, we discuss the latest issue of Polygraff™ (Volume, 1 Issue #2), a quarterly adventure fiction anthology with short stories in science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, pulp, and many other genres.
This issue contains more chapters in The Well at the World's End by William Morris, "The Road to Corinth" by Karen Gallant, "Visitors" by Anne Michaud, "Grounded" By Wes Weston, a chapter of Triplanetary by E.E. "Doc" Smith, and a review of Judge Dredd™ America.
This issue also features a very rare interview with science fiction author John Norman, famous for creating the Gor series of novels. It is one of the few interviews that Mr. Norman has conducted in the last 30 years.
In this podcast, we also include an interview with Anne Michaud, author of "Visitors," which appears in this issue of Polygraff. This is a relatively short interview but we will post a longer interview, in Ms. Michaud's native French language, to another podcast, available on another feed, in the near future.
DiceCast™ is a podcast about roleplaying games (RPGs), miniatures wargames, sophisticated board games, and related hobbies produced by Polymancer® Studios, Inc., publishers of Polymancer magazine, Polyglot™, and other periodicals. Episodes of DiceCast are about topics that are of interest to gamers of all kinds (and for RPGs, this means both players and gamemasters) as well as special topics for freelance writers and artists.
Contact us at dicecast@polymancerstudios.com or by Skype at "Polymancer." Polymancer Studios’s web site is at www.polymancer.com.
Episodes of DiceCast are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivative 3.0 License (available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
We are also on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Polymancer), MySpace (myspace.com/polymancer) and LiveJournal (polymancerstdio).
