Dice in Mind

We are thrilled to share with you this week our interview with Keith Ammann, author of the definitive natural history texts on all things Dungeons & Dragons monsters.  As we will hear, the monsters really do know what they are doing when they come after your PC.  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:

The Monsters Know What They're Doing Moar! Monsters Know What They're Doing Live to Tell the Tale How to Defend Your Lair (available for preorder) The Monsters Know What They're Doing (blog)

Keith Ammann has been a Dungeons & Dragons player and DM for more than thirty years. He has been writing his fifth edition D&D–focused blog The Monsters Know What They’re Doing since 2016. He lives in Chicago.

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 dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 44 Teaser

This week we speak with Matt Forbeck, an exceptionally creative author and entrepreneur who has written across some of the world's most popular franchises.  Ever heard of Minecraft, Halo, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, or Marvel?  Yeah, we thought so.  In addition exploring his creative process, Matt also shared with us some thoughts behind his Kickstarter-funded Shotguns and Sorcery campaign for 5e.  And he chatted about all of this after a very long day of meetings.  We invite you to join us for a wide-ranging discussion of RPG and adjacent topics. 

Please check out Matt's diverse creative work:

Forbeck.com Shotguns and Sorcery About Matt Forbeck (definitely worth reading)

Matt spent most of his career as a freelancer, so he has done lots of different things for different people.  Besides that, Matt co-founded Pinnacle Entertainment Group with Shane Lacy Hensley back in 1996, and he was company president for nearly four years, leaving in late 1999.  In 2002, Matt joined Human Head Studios to head up their new adventure games division.  He left them in September of 2004 to dedicate himself to freelancing full-time once again.  In all, Matt has worked on projects that have been nominated for 28 Origins Awards and have won 17.  They’ve also won 10 ENies and a number of InQuest Fan Awards, and a Scribe award.

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 dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 43 Teaser

This week we interview a gentlemen with whom we have been eager to chat.  Michael Polkinghorn is the author of the very first adventure in Candlekeep Mysteries, our very favorite D&D adventure book from Wizards of the Coast.  He is also an individual with a fascinating backstory of his own.  Join us as Michael shares how he conceptualized his Candlekeep adventure, walks us through his broader familiarity with D&D (including his own podcast Relic of the Past), and shares with us some of his number of other nerdy interests.

Please check out Michael's diverse creative work:

Dragon Magazine Candlekeep Mysteries Relic of the Past

Michael Polkinghorn started his professional life as a geologist.  He now works in the wine industry and can often be found walking the vineyards of Sonoma County with his family and four house tabaxi.

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 dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 42 Teaser

This week we have the good fortune of chatting with Jake Blouch and Michael Doherty, two of the minds and voices behind the wonderfully creative Mythic Thunderlute: A D&D Podcast Musical.  If you have listened to MTL, we think you will agree it is one of the most creative things happening in the RPG community today.  If you haven't listened to at least a few of their episodes, stop what you are doing and get on over to their feed.  Yes, it's that good.

Please check out Mythic Thunderlute, and while you're there support their work through Patreon and buy their merchandise:

Mythic Thunderlute MTL Patreon MTL Merch

Jake Blouch is a Philly based actor, song writer, voiceover artist and future President of the United States. He has performed in theatres across the Philadelphia region, and even a couple times in Delaware! In addition to his "career" as an actor, his songwriting and musical projects include his parody band Jawbone Junction, which aims to give Southern Rock the Spinal Tap treatment (Roscoe Chubb on the drums).  His original musical Something Like a War was commissioned by 11th Hour Theatre Co, and received a showcase reading in 2019.  For his turn in their production of See What I Wanna See he won the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical.  He lives in South Philly with his true love, his wife Sophia, and her true love, their dog Teddy and cats Tobias and Sister Aloicius.

Michael Doherty is an east coast-based actor, writer, and comedian. He has participated in nearly 50 theatrical productions across the country, including productions at 59E59 Theaters, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, the Wilma Theater, and more. His television pilot, Los Jarochos, won Best Writing at the 2013 Independent TV Festival. Michael is a published educational researcher in an ongoing collaboration with the University of Denver, studying the thought processes of professional actors. In 2019, he married fellow actor and best friend Alex Keiper during preview week for The Nerd at Milwaukee Rep. 

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 dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).

Episode 41 Teaser

This week we interview...no one!  Instead, we look back at our recent five interviews and look forward to the next five.  Along the way we reflect on how Dice in Mind has changed yet remained true to exploring RPGs through the lens of real life.  We also reveal that we are putting a narrative dice port of Star Trek on the back burner so that instead we can write (and share) a few mission briefs for playing Star Trek duets.  Finally, we have a big announcement:  Jason and his friend and co-author Aaron are writing a book on leadership through the lens of Star Trek!

You can check out Aaron and Jason's related article on StarTrek.com for a taste of what is to come with their book:

Leadership from the Ready Room

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 dice mechanic.

If you like what you hear, consider buying us a cup of coffee or becoming a patron.  You can also join the conversation by following us on Facebook.

Music by Kevin McCloud courtesy of Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 license (https://www.youtube.com/c/kmmusic/featured).