We start out 2021 by going in the "sorta-way-back machine" to discuss 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons with Mark Meredith. He has been writing for Dice Monkey for over 10 years and recently started to rediscover 4e with his family. He talks about surprising aspects of the edition after years away from it. He speaks to the forward-facing design and energy from the tactile nature of combat. We highlight some of our memories of the edition and focus on positive elements of the 4e experience.

Ego Check with The Id DM

Mark Meredith on Rediscovering 4th Edition D&D

Ronen Givony joins me to talk about his latest book, Not For You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense, which attempts to chronicle and place into context Pearl Jam's career. Ronen talks about his work his relationship to the music industry and how he developed the concept for Not For You. We share origin stories of our Pearl Jam fandom and then enter into a discussion about the structure of Not For You - and the various forces that shaped the band and our experience of them. We close with a discussion on why the band always seems to have memorable shows in Philly. This was a fun episode. Enjoy! 

Ronen Givony on Not For You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense

Matt Forbeck joins me to discuss his career as a an author and game designer. He discusses his world of Dragon City, which has spawned numerous books and the recent tabletop roleplaying game, Shotguns & Sorcery. He speaks to his inspirations for the game and how he wanted to create a new iconic hero in Max Gibson. He details some of his successes as a freelancer over the years and describes why returning to Dragon City was important. Matt explores why racism very much exists in Dragon City and how that is fused into the game system. Matt talks about the reckoning that roleplaying games are having at this time with race and other issues that affect player safety. He offers a glimpse at what is next for Shotguns & Sorcery including a new monster book, a Pathfinder conversion, and other projects.

Matt Forbeck on Shotguns & Sorcery

Kelly Carlin joins me to talk about her life as the daughter of famed comedian, George Carlin. She previously wrote a memoir, A Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up with George, which was published in 2015. She has earned a bachelors degree from UCLA and a masters degree in Jungian Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Weaving in her psychological training, Kelly talks about her journey toward finding her own meaning while also managing the weight of her father's legacy. She speaks to basking in his glow as a child and later feel trapped in his shadow as an adult. She explores how we all go through confusion about our self-identity and how she pursued graduate education in psychology to further understand herself and the world around her. She talks about the powerful forces of "shame and greed" that hold us back and how we can overcome that to led meaningful lives.

Kelly Carlin on Legacy, Purpose & Resilience

Tomo Moriwaki talks about his career in videogame design and how his experiences led him to the latest endeavor, Epic Tavern. In Epic Tavern, players are tasked with building up a tavern to cater to adventure needs AND with sending those adventurers on quests. Tomo talks about his goals to design an engaging gameplay loop that encourages players to spend more time with Epic Tavern; it was fascinating to learn about the decisions that are made to create a successful gameplay loop that cultivates that "one more turn" feeling for players! He discusses obstacles to creating a game "like fantasy football for fantasty fantasy" and how the small team has overcome those challenges. Tomo educates me about the logic behind Epic Tavern gameplay, including the encounter system involved in questing.

Tomo Moriwaki on Designing Epic Tavern

I'm joined by Stacy King and Andrew Wheeler, two of the minds responsible for the wonderful Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer's Guide series. They talk about the latest entry, Wizards & Spells, and detail how they took the vast magical information in D&D and organized that into a clean framework for young readers (and us creaky adults!) to absorb. They talk about the joys of creating new Legendary Characters for the D&D universe and how choices were made to highlight specific spells and magical items. Stacy and Andrew speak about their contributions to all books in the series and explain how the books fit together to form a coherent and warm invitation to all readers to play D&D. They respond to the glowing reception the books have received by an audience ranging in age, and briefly mention plans for the next two books in the series. These books are a treasure for any fan of D&D! 

Stacy King & Andrew Wheeler on Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards & Spells

Keith Ammann joins me to discuss his book, The Monsters Know What They're Doing, which provides highly-detailed tactical guidance for monsters in 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. He speaks about his interest in strategy games and how that influenced his approach to running gaming sessions. He discusses how to run monsters realistically to further engage players and make their achievement at the table more meaningful. We explore multiple aspects of combats including complexity, difficulty, and morality.

Keith Ammann on The Monsters Know What They're Doing

Dr. Connell comes back to Ego Check to talk about the developments in the therapeutic use of Dungeons & Dragons in therapy. She talks about how the game allows players to achieve personal growth through exposure. She offers insights into how to manage an improv-heavy campaign. We talk about balancing a professional life with hobby goals and values, and explore how to navigate the fatigue and burnout that can arise from generating content.

Megan Connell, PsyD on Therapeutic D&D and Coping with Creative Burnout

I'm joined by Elizabeth Kilmer (soon-to-be PhD) and Jared Kilmer, PhD this week as they discuss their use of Dungeons & Dragons in clinical settings with military veterans. They present how the therapy gaming groups are structured and the themes that come up during gameplay. They present examples from past sessions including stories of how veterans have processed through challenging emotional content with the help of in-game situations. They talk about their ambitions and plans to gather more data about their therapeutic D&D approach with veterans, and how they might expand this in the future with other populations. 

Elizabeth & Jared Kilmer on Therapeutic D&D for Veterans

Dr. Rachel Kowert is a psychologist with years of published research examining the mental health effects of video games. She details how her research has NOT supported a variety of commonly-held and spread myths about video games. She discusses her role as Research Director for Take This, whose mission is to decrease stigma while increasing the support for mental health in the game-enthusiast community and inside the game industry. She talks about her history as a video game player and how she manages her personal use of games and that of her young children. 

Dr. Rachel Kowert on Video Games & Mental Health

Matt is the map designer for Loke Battle Mats, which has been releasing tabletop battle mats for roleplaying games in recent years. Matt talks about the origins for the product line and his inspirations while designing the maps. We discuss how Dungeons & Dragons and other systems have shaped Loke Battle Mats and how terrain has shifted in importance over the years for players. Matt shares his approach to preparing for games including routine use of a Dual-Dungeon Master technique. He shares excellent tips on getting the most out of battle mats and other terrain options!

Matt Henderson on Designing Loke Battle Mats

Matt Dixon talks about his career as a freelance illustrator and his work in digital spaces leading to his work with Blizzard. He talks about starting on the World of Warcraft TCG and how he got hired again for the Goblins & Gnomes expansion in Hearthstone. He has been a contributing artist to Hearthstone since that time and talks about his creative process. He shares his influences and explores how technology has changed the way he approaches illustration. He talks about his need to bring "life" to an image and how he was drawn to computers and pixels at a young age. He speaks about specific illustrations completed for Hearthstone and what fueled their origin. He indulges me as we discuss one of my favorite pieces of art in Hearthstone, Hecklebot, and he references his earlier work on Annoy-o-tron as when Hearthstone "clicked" for him. We conclude by talking about his recent "speed paintings" and his stunning personal work on his series, Transmissions. 

Matt Dixon on Illustrating Hearthstone

Elisabeth de Kleer is an award-winning documentary producer and director that has experience working in the true crime genre. She has been working for the past two years on the subject of Dungeons & Dragons in prisons, and is attempting to Kickstart a documentary on this subject. She joins me to talk about the inspiration for this project and shares some of the stories from the 100s of inmates and prison personnel that she has interviewed thus far. We also discuss the purpose of prison, and the challenges that exist for reintegrating back into society. I share with her my background as a survivor of a violent crime as my father was shot and killed in the line of duty when I was eight-years-old, and we discuss the murky waters of how society deals with individuals that commit violent crimes after they have served their time in prison. We explore the potential rehabilitative powers of D&D for inmates, and the extraordinary lengths they have gone to play the game while incarcerated.  

Elisabeth de Kleer on Dungeons & Dragons Behind Bars

Teos Abadia joins Ego Check once again to talk about how wonderfully diverse the tabletop roleplaying game hobby has become in recent years. He details how he got involved in the Acquisitions Incorporated book for Dungeons & Dragons, and speaks to the philosophy behind the unique approach to D&D content. He discusses his hand in refining the final segments of the AI adventure within the book, and how delightful it was to work with the other members of the team on the project.

Teos Abadia on Designing Acquisitions Incorporated

Jim Zub, writer and creator, joins me this week on Ego Check with The Id DM to talk about the Young Adventurer's Guides for Dungeons & Dragons. The first two books in the series, Warriors & Weapons and Monsters & Creatures, release this month, and I was fortunate to get a preview copy from 10 Speed Press (the same company that published the amazing Art & Arcana: A Visual History).  Jim talks about  his work in comics over the last 20 years that have landed him writing for characters such as Conan, The Avengers, Rick & Morty, and Black Panther. He talks about his long relationship with Dungeons & Dragons that was summarized in a recent Tedx Talk he gave, which I encourage everyone to watch. He discusses the genesis of the Young Adventurer's Guides and how the idea grew from a simple pitch to a multi-book series that may continue to grow.  He talks about why he felt the books needed to be created, and the philosophy behind how the books were designed including why it was important to have new art and a different structure from the typical Player's Handbook and Monster Manual. Jim also discusses his work on the upcoming Descent Into Avernus adventure for Dungeons & Dragons. It was wonderful to speak with him and learn about the creative process behind the Young Adventurer's Guides. I truly believe they are a wonderful entry point for young readers into D&D AND a refreshing source of inspiration for long-time players. Enjoy! 

Jim Zub on Creating the Young Adventurer's Guides for Dungeons & Dragons

An interview podcast hosted by Dr. Michael Mallen, a licensed psychologist who enjoys in-depth conversations with guests about games (tabletop RPGs, videogames, boardgames) and psychology.

hubhopper

Ego Check with The Id DM

hubhopper