Misha

astonishing! unaccountable! it's another episode of DEAD LETTERS! today, it's Evey Lockhart's WET GRANDPA, an ominous river adventure! join us as we discuss poetic meter, NPCs as ethical traps, "conversational infinity," gigging, and the Madonna. come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/6898...

The very smart roleplaying podcast Dead Letters reviewed my old Manifesto of the Turku School. I wrote some thoughts in my blog but it was really nice and I became a regular listener. mikepohjola2.wordpress.com/2026/09/24/t... @dead-letters.bsky.social #roleplaying #larp #gametheory

it cannot be! another episode of DEAD LETTERS, on Skerples' MAGICAL INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION! join us as we discuss setting guides (yet again), the relative social cachet of GMs as hobbyist game designer and/or improvisers, legwork, and postmodernism! come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/1Y5d...

hwaet! it's another episode of DEAD LETTERS! this time, we're discussing "The Invisible Rules of Roleplaying" by Markus Montola! join us as we yap about the definition of roleplaying, non-game roleplaying, cross-media roleplaying, and not roleplaying! come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/61fy...

good morning! are you a DEAD LETTERS listener? interested in thoughtful tabletop RPG discussion? fond of the Aughts aesthetic? then join THE MAILROOM, our forum! it's open to all and equipped with all the features a robust internet message board needs! see you there! deadletters.nyc/forum/index....

the crowd goes wild! it's another episode of DEAD LETTERS, this one on THE BLACK WYRM OF BRANDONSFORD! join us as we discuss the Muppets, topos -> topography -> topology, videogame quest design, the charm of the generic, and proto-OSE editing & layout. come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/2lK9...

rosalindmc.itch.io/rosepulp-cre... For anyone who wants a massive library of pixel art sprites for fantasy creatures! All free for anyone to use for (almost) any project! #pixelart #gamedev

One of my all-time favorite rules, from Pea Ridge (1980). The designer's great-great-grandfather fought in the battle, and if his unit takes damage you roll a die to see if he survives. If he dies, the designer is never born, and the game doesn't exist, and so automatically ends in a draw.

goodness gracious! it's another episode of DEAD LETTERS, this time about MYTHIC BASTIONLAND! join us as we discuss modular worldbuilding, poetic meter, reading lens of storygames, diegetical detail and logistics play, and randomized quests. come listen! open.spotify.com/s/Xgf3wHR

can it be? a new episode of DEAD LETTERS? about the TURKU SCHOOL MANIFESTO? discussing the immersive and/or empathetic larp style, internal vs external simulationism, and the revolution? in this economy? open.spotify.com/episode/53Vn...

this death actually provides a really good checklist for RPG designers to go over when adding new features: (1) is it an interesting challenge with redundant soft workarounds, or is it a hard counter? be aware of the shape of the interactions this will have with other systems.

They haven't made graphics better than this yet. Will they ever? Experts disagree.

egads! a new episode of DEAD LETTERS about THE GREAT PENDRAGON CAMPAIGN (1985)—a followup to our last episode! we discuss the relationship between story and play, period lenses on the same era of history, '80s RPG books vs '00s RPG books, and dogs! come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/1x8l...

whosemeasure.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-n...

shock! terror! bafflement! it's a new episode of DEAD LETTERS, this time about PENDRAGON (6e)! join us as we discuss Le Morte d'Arthur, historiographical lenses, gay knights, Crusader Kings, rules-as-psychology, and over-the-shoulder play! open.spotify.com/episode/7sg0...

I love Edward Gorey’s theory of art: “Art…is presumably about some certain thing, but is really always about something else, and it’s no good having one without the other, because if you just have the something it is boring and if you just have the something else it’s irritating.”

what's that? why, it's a new episode of DEAD LETTERS, discussing Amanda Lee Franck's YOU GOT A JOB ON THE GARBAGE BARGE! join us as we discuss the spatiality of adventures, the adventure–setting split, frogs, and the distance from home game to published adventure! open.spotify.com/episode/3RVK...

Solid post, I'd even go so far as to say that one of fantasy's defining traits is being the setting most built around play-enabling shorthand.

I've been listening to the Dead Letters back catalogue, and I think both Sam and Misha make excellent points about Wolves. Sam is absolutely correct that the way it is written makes it exciting to read - and is thus crucial to getting the prospective GM to actually read it, 1/7

shock! horror! a new episode of DEAD LETTERS, but not about a tabletop RPG! what are those rascally fellows discussing this time? a videogame! it's THIEF GOLD and immersive sims, physical space, mutual old-school histories, and President Nixon! listen! open.spotify.com/episode/4HCM...

Dropped a new trailer for my game. It's out now! store.steampowered.com/app/2574300/... Join the ground floor of a new generation of ideas!

This week's episode of Dead Letters dives into Thousand Year Old Vampire, a journaling game seemingly far from our usual focus. Listen for my take that TTRPGs and birding are opposite activities, and for me to absolutely butcher Sartre by taking the concept of bad faith way beyond stretching point

holy smokes! it's another episode of DEAD LETTERS, this one about Dan ThroneOfSalt's UNICORN MEAT! we discuss adventure premises, the relationship of good and bad qualities, sandbox slices-of-life, the Dishonored heart, and mixed adventure structures! come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/1ZSH...

This is a fun episode, not least because I get to let loose my hot take that the sublime is bad for ttrpgs

Maybe the rudest thing I've ever seen on the internet

Oh dang, this gets at what I love about system theory. Lacking direct access to reality, we run constant speculative/ideological simulations of it in our heads and iterate each time it proves us wrong. Sims are fun because the ways they fail are our only direct contact with reality.

shock! awe! bedlam! mayhem! it's the latest episode of DEAD LETTERS, about Magpie Games' AVATAR LEGENDS: THE ROLEPLAYING GAME! we discuss the challenges of licensed adaptations, expectations of play, product lines, and contrived anti-bender prisons. come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/650n...

"What's that?" I hear you ask. "Why," I say, "it's the new DEAD LETTERS about Jay Dragon's EXPRESSIONIST GAME MANIFESTO!" we discuss 20th C. art movements, struggle, rejecting rules, ~Metaphor for the Queer Experience~, subversion paradoxes, and more! come listen! open.spotify.com/episode/68SY...

I'm collecting data on how weird we are. forms.gle/ric62Zm5gwKL...

new DEAD LETTERS episode! this time, it's the vast, legendary, landmark WOLVES UPON THE COAST, written by that one bald guy! we talk about the Adventure Writing Trust Horizon, reading, horses with unhinged jaws, poetic monster manuals, legwork, and the GM as medium! open.spotify.com/episode/2Z1e...

Now that the discourse has died down, and my birding has lessened, I want to talk about lists in rpgs. I like what both sides of the debate make. So, like everything else, "good" isn't about which side you choose but how you execute the idea. If you choose to use lists, use them well.

there's another episode of DEAD LETTERS out today! this one is about the GLOG, the Goblin Laws of Gaming, the biggest, weirdest, and coolest branch of the OSR. we cover blogging, 3.5, bizarro skill systems, Delta templates, and more. give it a listen! open.spotify.com/episode/60GT...

very good post! extremely insightful and actionable. if you like my "tangible tips" posts about editing, you will find lots of useful ideas here

brace yourselves—it's a new episode of DEAD LETTERS!! this one's about John Harper's landmark BLADES IN THE DARK! we cover prep for sessions, the split between rules and advice, clock, and that dreaded beast, "fiction first." give it a listen! open.spotify.com/episode/7jy3...

indie game marketing is untenable right now, bro allegedly took a shot at the president and it got him 22 concurrents

new DEAD LETTERS! new DEAD LETTERS! new DEAD LETTERS! this episode, we're reading a game studies article about the meaning of rules, the role of the game designer, and Tati's "Playtime": Miguel Sicart's "Against Procedurality!" give it a listen! open.spotify.com/episode/7ETC...

out now: store.steampowered.com/app/2364580/...