“The People I Play With” is an interview podcast where I talk one-on-one with people with whom I have recently played a role-playing game. It is not a product review show. In fact I try to keep the specifics of the game to a need-to-know minimum in order to focus on the guest’s insights into their own play process.
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In an effort to get an even wider diversity of voices, I’d like to invite you to participate in a project I’m calling “The People You Play With”. In brief, this is an open call to record and submit your own interviews to spotlight some of your favorite players and game masters. See the link below for detailed requirements. In a media landscape saturated with consumerism, commercial interests and para-social insincerity, it’s more important than ever to provide insight into authentic connections. The artistry of tabletop role-playing games happens at our tables, in our homes and among our close
In which Eva and I discuss: Thinking outside the group. Personal identification in archetypes. Finding beauty in the horrific. Playing the naive opposition. Thematic similarities across characters. The relationship between partial-psyche and character development. High trust groups. Authentic enjoyment of the grotesque. Building horrors from iterative prompts. Heavy themes wrapped in metaphors. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael
In which Bre and I discuss: Connecting with a character you initially didn’t want to play. Doing the unexpected action, because it’s the authentic expression. Coincidental connections between player action and GM prepared material. Fleshing out one-shot characters with lived experience. Finding the character as you play. Rushing toward danger. The family soap opera at the heart of the horror. The joy of playing an active monster. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Than
In which Tea and I discuss: Collaborative world building. Tighter scene cutting. Running from a Quickstart. Importing assumptions from similar games. Running NPCs with incomplete backstory. Including the GM in satisfactory play. Over and under-running clocks. Actual instances of Safety Tool use. Playing with an inconsistent player group. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon F
In which James and I discuss: Playing hard out of the gate. Detective games that aren’t mysteries. When detective and killer meet. The mental health of detective characters. Constraining your choices even when the game doesn’t. Playing a slow burn serial killer. Introducing content into scene’s that aren’t yours. Expressing each other’s themes. Constraints to consider for next play. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller V
In which Jeff and I discuss: Committing to the premise of a game. Being indecisive in character. Playing the opposite of yourself. In character moral lines. Consequences of past actions coming back. Roads not taken in play. Violence in more grounded situations. When play goes differently than you anticipated. Seeking a more grounded fantasy. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patre
In which Kyle and I discuss: Using your character to motivate other characters. Maintaining attention during play. Playing a character outside your comfort zone. Creating a character in an open system without archetypes. Playing a character with questionable loyalties. Not exceptionalizing the PCs. Character motivations in the face of horrific injustice. Characters relationships to violence that happens around them. Being out of the action at a critical moment. The moral qualities of situational fallout. Looking forward to follow-up scenarios. Pausing play to think through consequences. Submit
In which Greg and I discuss: Bringing fresh ideas to player material Setting up other players for character moments Pace of developing a characters motivation Considering other player characters’ motivations when acting. Pushing for the fail moment. Contingency planning or lack there of. Character informing game decisions. The morality of letting an NPC you could save die. Processing the tone of a game. Fantasy For Real as a GM training tool. Having the perfect storm of players and game. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Musi
In which Sarah and I discuss: Developing a character from game cues. Playing a protagonist that mirrors the antagonist. Self-expression in an open magic system. The morality of child vengeance and recruitment.. Developing an ethical framework in a villainous character. Setting inspiration. When player magic intersects with each other. Watching inappropriate media in our youth. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent
In which Kodi and I discuss: Bringing emotions to the game. Games as safe spaces for bad feelings. Emotionally connecting with your character. RPGs as “therapy” and self-expression. Being emotionally disconnected from overly scripted moments. Resonating with biracial themes in our game. Struggling with awkward resolutions. The difficulty with mixed-successes. The myth of agency through narrative control. Why math shouldn’t pace your games. Thirsty Sword Lesbians, game or meta-game? Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The
Season 2 Is Coming March 10th! Guests Include: Kodi Gonzaga On Ten Candles Sarah ChristianScher On Broken Tales Greg Hellings On Fantasy For Real Kyle Wolfe On Story Engine Jeff Jones On Sorcerer James Ritter On The Hour Between Dog And Wolf Tea On Ex Tenebris Bre Seale On Cthulhu Dark Eva Wierzbicki On Bluebeard’s Bride Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon Friends of The Peo
In which Christian and I discuss: The joy of adding incidental details. Finding the salient detail of scene vs playing toward one. Formulating alternative consequences for conflicts. The power of restricting conversations about in-progress play. Following the creative focus of the group. Discerning meaning within thematic resonance. Processing and teaching rules texts. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker R
In which Dawn and I discuss: The value of playing in familiar locations. Playing fantasy selves. Navigating NPC social pressure. Forming meaningful connections between PCs and NPCs. Assuming responsibility for your character’s actions. Playing with family members. Running a game without a plot. Other historical contexts for play. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon Friends o
In which Adam and I discuss: Vibing with other players. Fighting contrarian impulses in play. Aggressively casual creative prompts. The value of time flow interruptions. Backdoor GMing a GMless game. Deliberate vs. informal scene framing. Game structure as religious observance. What does it mean to cope with death? Death as resolution point vs. transformative moment. Less literal implementations of source inspiration. The joys of play variety. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paol
In which Bre and I discuss: Playing from the hip. Player agency within moments of fictional loss of agency. Seizing a course of action and seeing it through. Finding symbolic resolutions. Seeking justice in supernatural contexts. Honest vs obstructive play. RPGs as safe space for self-expression. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon Friends of The People I Play With Recaps &
In which Shaun and I discuss: Coping with failure in investigation scenarios. Trust in play. Playing a physically disabled character. Portraying a corrupt character. The politics of the advancement system. Constructing honest investigation scenarios. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon Friends of The People I Play With Recaps & Revelries Adept Play Follow Me On Blue Sky: htt
In which James and I discuss: The professional and private life of a replicant blade runner. Pushing beyond your limits for the job. The complexity of interrogation scenes. The politics of blade running. Adjudicating beyond basic success. Rules that occasionally disconnect from the fiction. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon Friends of The People I Play With Recaps & Revelr
In which Sarah and I discuss: Developing scenarios from a minimal premise. Creating personality profiles for background characters. Managing colorful characters in a chaotic situation. Resolving uncertainty outside the rules. Building relatable characters in a silly context. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon Friends of The People I Play With Recaps & Revelries Adept Play F
A short introduction to the upcoming podcast: The People I Play With. Submit Your Own Interviews To “The People You Play With” Read The Requirements and Guidelines Document Music “The Best Jazz Club In New Orleans” by Paolo Argento Thanks To My Patreon Supporters: Michael S. Miller Vincent Baker Ralph Lend Your Support Patreon Friends of The People I Play With Recaps & Revelries Adept Play Follow Me On Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jburneko.itch.io Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@jburneko
