Greetings my friends,

In this episode Luke and Sam interview the legendary Mike “Papa” Holmes. Mike is an RPG designer—known primarily for his co-authorship of Universalis: The Game of Unlimited Stories—and a prolific member of many RPG communities. He thinks deeply about small things and has the uncanny ability to point out the obvious to the rest of us who missed it.

If you want a taste of Mike’s medicine, you can read his scintillatingly clear thoughts on RPGs in his Standard Rants:

• Mike’s Standard Rant #1: Designers! Know your hobby!

• Mike’s Standard Rant #2: Species/Race/Culture

• Mike’s Standard Rant #3: Combat Systems

• Mike’s Standard Rant #4: Stat/Skill systems

• Mike’s Standard Rant #5: The Myth of Opposed Rolls

I hope you enjoy our conversation, I know I did.

Ever yours,
—Luke

Greetings, Alchemists.

At the start of this month, we were at Gen Con, where we held our second annual Gen Con Ludological Alchemists panel, involving more Alchemists and Golems than ever before. Many of you joined us, including several brand new alchemists, and all participated in the goleming. Listen to learn of our triumphs and failures! None of them would be possible without you.

Also, check out the post on the Ludological Alchemists blog for images from the event. None of them are worth the full one thousand word standard allowance, but each of them are worth at least seven hundred and forty words, so they're still fairly competitive with the market value.

A grand time was had.

Hello seekers of knowledge,

Here you will find the third installment of Volume 2 of the Hypothesis. Continuing our interview format, this month’s victim is none other than me, your humble narrator. In this recording Sam & Christopher torment me using the self-same questions with which I tortured them. We invite you to compare and contrast our outlooks and answers.

And who should our next victim be? We’re plan to extend this series and interview other designers, subjecting them to the same 20 questions about their backgrounds, experiences and outlooks regarding game design.

Ever yours,
—Luke