Speculate!

Beginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we again return to the city of Duskwall as GM Brandon O’Brien GMs a new crew of Mike, Valerie Valdes, Iori Kusano, and Jeoi Gawain Lin through a funeral–and a mystery–using the Blades in the Dark system. […]

In this episode recorded live at the Farpoint Convention in Baltimore, Greg and Mike continue their conversation about the state of TTRPGs, looking at indie games, distribution methods, game jams, zine quests, and more. If you like what you hear, make sure to tune in soon for more actual play episodes and discussions of story, […]

In this episode recorded live at the Farpoint Convention in Baltimore, Greg and Mike chat a bit about personal projects and the state of Speculate before moving into a conversation about the changing landscape of tabletop role-playing and how the stories they tell (and the people who are now being encouraged to tell them) are […]

Concluding a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie […]

Continuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie […]

Beginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we once again return to the land of Star Wars via Scum and Villainy. GM Mike Underwood brings four new players (though two of them have appeared on Speculate or on Twitch before)–Joseph Brassey, Joyce Chng, Valerie […]

In a special episode of Speculate 2.0, Mike and Greg chat about taking an existing world from fantasy or science fiction and combining it with a pre-existing system, as Mike recently did in a previous set of episodes combining Scum and Villainy and Star Wars, looking at how game mechanics can and should support good […]

Continuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we conclude this edition of the Scum and Villainy experience, this time in the world of Star Wars. GM Mike Underwood and a whole new set of players–Brent C. Lambert, Mur Lafferty, Bryan Young, and Delilah Dawson–wrap […]

Continuing a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we continue the Scum and Villainy experience, this time in the world of Star Wars. GM Mike Underwood and a whole new set of players–Brent C. Lambert, Mur Lafferty, Bryan Young, and Deliah Dawson–have just gotten past […]

Beginning a new series of Speculate 2.0’s actual play episodes, in this joint production with Greg’s Twitch channel we return to the Scum and Villainy experience, this time in the world of Star Wars. GM Mike Underwood brings a whole new set of players–Brent C. Lambert, Mur Lafferty, Bryan Young, and Delilah Dawson–and their characters […]

In this episode, we post a panel from the Gen Con 2019 Writers’ Symposium, one of the largest writing tracks in North America–this one, with Greg, Anna Smith Spark, John O’ Neill, and moderator Steve Drew, looks at the various ways in which topography, immediate environment, and the surrounding features of the landscape impact the […]

During our trip to the 2019 Origins Game Fair, we took some time to chat with some game designers about what’s new and exciting in the world of rpgs and to ask about the impact of the actual play movement on game design and the tabletop rpg industry. In this episode, we talk with For The […]

During our trip to the 2019 Origins Game Fair, we took some time to chat with some game designers about what’s new and exciting in the world of rpgs and to ask about the impact of the actual play movement on game design and the tabletop rpg industry. In this episode, we talk with prolific […]

Today we have the first of several episodes recorded from Greg and Mike’s trip to the Origins Game Fair in June of 2019. The panel description: Lessons from gaming for prose fiction and lessons from prose for gaming. This panel featured Carlos Hernandez, Michael R. Underwood, and Tracy Chowdhury, with Gregory A. Wilson moderating. This […]

In Speculate 2.0’s nineteenth actual play episode, we wrap up (for the moment) our sessions in the world of Scum and Villainy by discussing the experience of playing together over this series of episodes, as GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song chat about what developing […]

In Speculate 2.0’s eighteenth actual play episode, we continue in the world of Scum and Villainy with GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song. The crew has the box and a ship, neither of which belong to them…and now they’ve got a lot of people on […]

In Speculate 2.0’s seventeenth actual play episode, we return to the world of Scum and Villainy with GM Mike and players Greg, SFF authors Alex Acks and SL Huang, and agent DongWon Song. The crew has the box and a ship, neither of which belong to them…but they’re sure everything will be just finnnneeee. If […]

In Speculate 2.0’s sixteenth actual play episode, Mike and Greg chat about how the transition from literary analysis to actual play podcast has gone so far, the things they’ve learned from the games they’ve played, and what things look like for the future. If you like what you hear, please tune in soon as we […]

In Speculate 2.0’s fifteenth actual play episode, we conclude (for now) our time in Eberron by discussing the experience of playing together over this series of episodes, as Mike, Maurice Broaddus, Lauren Roy, and Marie Bilodeau chat about how the players and characters grew closer over their time playing and adventuring together. If you like […]

In Speculate 2.0’s fourteenth actual play episode, Greg DMs in the world of Eberron as the party of Pikebreaker (played by Mike), Machupa (Maurice Broaddus), Grim (Lauren Roy), and Clak (Marie Bilodeau) face a dangerous enemy in a risky environment–all to clear their name of a murder. If you like what you hear, please tune […]