This week, I'm joined by guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the resurgence of role-playing games.
Show notes:
Recorded in Salem, Mass.
Last time we recorded for the show was two years ago
Time is passing quickly
Jay: Going into the office once a week now
Matt: It was an extrovert's world for a long time
Matt's still writing YA books
Matt has been running Dungeons & Dragons games since pandemic started
Unprepared for the number of people who wanted to jump in
Matt: Didn't have enough friends to play in high school
Was going to start doing it for corporate retreats when COVID hit
A legal dispute over licensing with Hasbro
Jay: Was a total comics nerd in high school
D&D made a comeback thanks to Stranger Things
A D&D movie is coming out with Chris Pine
Tom Hanks starred in Mazes & Monsters, a "Satanic panic" movie about D&D
Stopped buying comics when there were bills to pay
Matt: Plenty of non-D&D role-playing games are popular
Played Vampire: The Masquerade in the '90s
Matt does a podcast called The Ravenfolly Institute that follows D&D campaigns as they happen
Matt's super-productive in his spare time
Working on an "adult" gritty fantasy book
Book industry is in "dire need of reform"
The first of Matt's books is getting an audiobook
Struggling to get through Dune (the book)
Matt's learning how to play a Dune role-playing game
Listens to a lot of RPG podcasts; helps you learn the game
D&D has had peaks and valleys of popularity since the mid-70s
On its 5th edition; went back to older style but streamlined
The stigma of being a nerd is gone now
Board games in general have become popular again
You get what you put into playing RPGs
A lot of mystery-themed games
Matt: Storytelling is storytelling, whether it's books or RPGs or podcasts
Matt's the D&Dealer
Gotta have the "math rocks"
Also does sister podcast Characters & Class
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The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.