Jim Johnson is the author of the Pistols and Pyramids series, the Potomac Shadows series, and other prose fiction series currently under development. He has written sundry other pieces of fiction, including several stories published in the Star Trek universe, and has freelanced for pen and paper roleplaying game companies, including Modiphius (Star Trek Adventures), Decipher (The Lord of the Rings RPG), and White Wolf (Mage: The Ascension). Jim lives in historic Alexandria, VA with his wife, son...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 95
Jim Johnson is the author of the Pistols and Pyramids series, the Potomac Shadows series, and other prose fiction series currently under development. He has written sundry other pieces of fiction, including several stories published in the Star Trek universe, and has freelanced for pen and paper roleplaying game companies, including Modiphius (Star Trek Adventures), Decipher (The Lord of the Rings RPG), and White Wolf (Mage: The Ascension). Jim lives in historic Alexandria, VA with his wife, son...
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 94
Emily Care Boss is an independent role-playing game designer/publisher and conservationist living on land of the Wabanaki Dawnland Confederacy, in western Massachusetts of the United States. Emily’s designs include Breaking the Ice , Shooting the Moon , and Under my Skin which won the player’s choice Otto award at Fastaval in 2009. These games were published in a single volume compendium with additional hacks and mods, as the Romance Trilogy in 2016 and earned a nomination for the Diana Jones Aw...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 93
Dr. Michael Wong is a Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Earth & Planets Laboratory working with Robert M. Hazen, Shaunna M. Morrison, Peter Gao, and others. His primary scientific interests are planetary atmospheres, habitability, biosignatures, and the emergence of life. He is also co-authoring a revised edition of the textbook Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach with Professor Jonathan Lunine. Dr. Wong's other passions include photography, writin...
May 15, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 92
Katie Nickolaou is the Emmy Award Winning CBS Morning Meteorologist for WLNS in Lansing, Michigan. From reporting on tornadoes live in the field to tracking multi-day blizzards, she loves injecting her forecasts with unique and detailed information that captivates and educates her audience. She is the creator of the #FandomForecast, a project she started to bring together her love for pop culture and weather forecasting. Please check out these links from the episode: Twitter Instagram TikTok Sta...
May 01, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 91
Jaime Green is a science writer, essayist, editor, and teacher, and she is series editor of The Best American Science and Nature Writing . She received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia, and her writing has appeared in Slate, Popular Science, The New York Times Book Review, American Theatre, Catapult, Astrobites, and elsewhere. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and son. Please check out these links from the episode: The Possibility of Life (book) Twitter Jaime Green (website) ...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 90
Katrina Ostrander has served as editor for over a dozen media tie-in novellas spanning multiple genres including cyberpunk, fantasy, Lovecraftian horror, and science fiction. She has worked with emerging writers as well as New York Times–bestselling authors. As the Creative Director of Story and Setting with the Asmodee Franchise Development Team, she oversees the internal and licensed development of the company’s proprietary IPs. Besides her work as an editor of tie-in fiction and developer of ...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 89
Green Ronin developer at large Malcolm Sheppard has over 20 years of experience in the RPG industry as a writer, designer, and developer, starting with work on the Mage: The Ascension line for White Wolf. His other credits include work on Exalted, Shadowrun, Scion, Vampire: The Masquerade, numerous Chronicles of Darkness titles, Blue Rose, and Fantasy AGE. Now at Green Ronin, his work focuses on the Modern AGE RPG, along with other AGE system works, though he's also developed Ork! The Roleplayin...
Mar 20, 2023•48 min•Ep. 88
Green Ronin developer at large Malcolm Sheppard has over 20 years of experience in the RPG industry as a writer, designer, and developer, starting with work on the Mage: The Ascension line for White Wolf. His other credits include work on Exalted, Shadowrun, Scion, Vampire: The Masquerade, numerous Chronicles of Darkness titles, Blue Rose, and Fantasy AGE. Now at Green Ronin, his work focuses on the Modern AGE RPG, along with other AGE system works, though he's also developed Ork! The Roleplayin...
Mar 06, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 87
Dr. Aaron Peterson is an active researcher and most recently was an assistant professor of educational leadership as well as higher education and student affairs leadership at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. His research explores conflict engagement best practices for higher educational leaders, students, and the private sector. Please check out these links from the episode: Star Wars and Conflict Resolution (book) Star Wars and Conflict Resolution (website) Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekl...
Feb 20, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 86
Aaron Dill is a veteran of Games Workshop, Gale Force Nine, and Monster Fight Club. With over 20 years in the tabletop hobby world, he is excited to be embarking on a new adventure Jolly Lark Games. Over the years, Aaron has run Grand Tournaments, designed gaming accessories, and collaborated on a number of popular board games. His work includes Firefly: the Game, Star Trek Ascendancy, Spartacus, the Sons of Anarchy board game, Tentacle Town, and more. Please check out these links from the episo...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 85
Matt Davids is a writer, a creator of tabletop role-playing game resource books, a novelist, a podcast host, and a former filmmaker. He is the author of the Amazon bestsellers, The Book of Random Tables and The Book of Random Tables: Quests . His first novel, The Spaceport Gambit , was released in June 2021. He lives in Missouri with his wife and their four children. His bookshelves groan under the weight of classic literature, science fiction, and fantasy. He enjoys playing Dungeons & Drago...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 84
Happy New Year! As the world welcomes 2023, we wanted to take an episode to share our thoughts about where Dice in Mind will be going over the coming months. The result is a vamp session in which the two of us share some thoughts, tease some plans, and dive into a protracted GM Corner. Hey, that's what happens when we haven't recorded for three weeks due to our holiday schedules and travels. An important change to note: For the next few months, we will be releasing episodes biweekly so that we c...
Jan 09, 2023•40 min•Ep. 83
It is our true pleasure to welcome back James Sutter, co-creator of Pathfinder and Starfinder, musician, and accomplished full-time author. Much as with our initial interview thirty episodes ago, James once again engaged us in deep and humane conversation about complex topics. Of course, we did invite him to explore the potential of moral ambiguity in writing and character development. James also shared with us some details regarding his upcoming book, Darkhearts, now available for preorder! Ple...
Dec 26, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 82
With the holiday season approaching across the Northern Hemisphere, we are taking two weeks to explore the importance of mental health and how RPGs and adjacent canons and games can promote it. Please join us for this timely conversation...and please be well. If you are in need of talking with someone, please consider calling: 911: Emergency Assistance 988: Suicide and Crisis Lifeline You can also check out this list of resources curated by the American Psychological Association. Disclaimer: Thi...
Dec 19, 2022•44 min•Ep. 81
With the holiday season approaching across the Northern Hemisphere, we are taking two weeks to explore the importance of mental health and how RPGs and adjacent canons and games can promote it. Please join us for this timely conversation...and please be well. If you are in need of talking with someone, please consider calling: 911: Emergency Assistance 988: Suicide and Crisis Lifeline You can also check out this list of resources curated by the American Psychological Association. Disclaimer: Thi...
Dec 12, 2022•42 min•Ep. 80
We are geeking out this week to chat with Thomas Marrone. The creator of countless and stunningly beautiful starships, Thomas spent a bit of time with us walking us through his creative process, his evolution as an artist, and more. Join us as we explore the sacred duty of designing ships for Star Trek. Please check out Thomas' oeuvre: Website Twitter ArtStation Star Trek Online As the Art Director for Star Trek Online, Thomas provides multidisciplinary art leadership on a long-running and succe...
Dec 05, 2022•49 min•Ep. 79
We are thrilled to share with you this week our second interview with Keith Ammann, author of the definitive natural history texts on all things Dungeons & Dragons monsters about his upcoming book, How to Defend Your Lair. As we will hear, this is a work that transcends the gaming table and takes us to new depths. Join us as Keith talks of his creative process, his publishing success, and his upcoming book. Please check out Keith's fascinating books and useful blog: How to Defend Your Lair T...
Nov 28, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 78
We are so pleased this week to chat with Aaron Hübrich, masterful artist and author of the recently released The Game Master's Book of Legendary Dragons. Join us as we explore the potential of legends and lore to enliven these most enigmatic of NPCs to the roleplaying table. Please check out Aaron's oeuvre: The Game Master's Book of Legendary Dragons Blog Posts JetPack7 Aaron Hubrich is a writer/artist/designer and publisher of JetPack7. He is the Creative Director at Conceptopolis, a company th...
Nov 21, 2022•55 min•Ep. 77
Join us for a three-episode run of actual play! In this third and final episode, our protagonist discovers that imps can be impish. Also, Brad and Jason learn an important lesson about the difficulties of recording a truly interesting actual play podcast. Get us back to the interviews! Finally, we again give a shout-out to Beth and Jonathan Ball, the lovely people behind D&D Duet and previous guests of the podcast, for the one-shot adventure upon which this arc of episodes relies. D&D Du...
Nov 14, 2022•59 min•Ep. 76
Join us for a three-episode run of actual play! In this second episode, Fred Rogers demonstrates how not to use a longbow in close combat during a training exercise. Also, we extend a shout-out to Beth and Jonathan Ball, the lovely people behind D&D Duet and previous guests of the podcast, for the one-shot adventure upon which this arc of episodes relies. D&D Duet Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs! In each episode, ...
Nov 07, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 75
Join us for a three-episode run of actual play! In this first episode, we set up the worldbuilding and create two PCs, Fred Rogers and Elrond Hubbard. There is no fourth wall this time around, so grab a character sheet, sit yourself down, and get ready to roll! Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs! In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific ...
Oct 31, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 74
Oct 29, 2022•1 min
We are thrilled to chat this week with Shelly Mazzanoble and Greg Tito, the wonderful co-hosts of the Dragon Talk podcast and authors of the upcoming Welcome to Dragon Talk: Inspiring Conversations about Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Love to Play It. We spend most of our time exploring the book, diving into the potential for D&D to make the world a better place through fostering community, mental health, and so much more. And did we mention you can preorder the book? Please check...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 73
Oct 22, 2022•1 min
We are joined this week by Aaron Pollyea, chief engineer for Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius. We talk about his process of starting out nearly all of the starships of the game. Even more interestingly, Aaron shares with us his personal and professional story of how he became a scientist and then master of starships. We even dove into some serious talk about historical reenacting. Although Aaron's work can be seen in all of the Star Trek Adventures sourcebooks, most notable is: Utopia Planitia ...
Oct 17, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 72
An episode in which Brad and Jason catch up after not having recorded for awhile by exchanging their thoughts about science fiction, fantasy, and RPGs. Join us for a wide-ranging and rather unstructured conversation about the good stuff. Welcome to Dice in Mind, a weekly podcast in which we explore the meaning of life through the lens of RPGs! In each episode, we will consider everyday stuff like science, religion, philosophy, and economics…through the lens of a specific roleplaying game and its...
Oct 10, 2022•41 min•Ep. 71
Oct 08, 2022•59 sec
This week we bring you RPG royalty! Seriously. We have the good fortune of sharing our fascinating conversation with Bill Smith, writer and editor of the much hailed Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (2nd ed.) core rulebook, Game Master Handbook, and more from West End Games. Bill's work on the mechanics and storytelling of Star Wars roleplaying should not be underestimated. His influences subtle and significant remain manifest throughout the science-fiction and fantasy RPG zeitgeist to this day. ...
Oct 03, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 70
Oct 01, 2022•1 hr 9 min
