Unwritten Earths Symposium

Mar 05 2025 10 ep. 63 mins 15
Unwritten Earths Symposium Podcast artwork

Welcome to the Unwritten Earths Symposium! In each episode, tabletop RPG designers Nathan D. Paoletta and Epidiah Ravachol try to trick each other into designing a game they wouldn't otherwise make.

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The Convention Slot Episode

Mar 05 2025 67 mins  
No, it's not a 4-hour episode! After talking about our game discovery homework guided by games we'd be excited to play at a convention (or elsewhere), we dive into how our experiences going to conventions and playing games in specific time slots has shaped our game design. Out inaugural project, the Adventurer & Hobbyist Annual 2025 set of time-spanning game scenarios

Plus Expenses #87

Feb 26 2025 50 mins  
In this Plus Expenses we talk about:Articulating the Unwritten Earths Symposium and how it gives us productive constraints, repetition is the brevity of the soul, Voyagers!, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, King Con by Stephen J. Cannell, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Samurai Champloo, coming full circle on physical media, preserving obscure media, pulp fiction literally pulping

The Constraints Episode

Feb 19 2025 74 mins  
In this episode we discuss the arcane gems found within games we would play with our moms, give some updates on what's happening in the discord, and field a great question about productive constraints in design and play. Show Notes: Iron Game Chef: Historical - Summary Iron Game Chef: Historical - Forum Games We Talked About: Zombie Cinema Grey Cells Swords Without Maste

The Groundhog Day Episode

Feb 05 2025 52 mins  
In this episode we talk about a Groundhog Day-inspired convention concept, some thoughts on setting design, where we're at with tricking each other into designing a game, and we field some listener questions about where to stay on top of TTRPG happenings and constraints on the design process (more of which we'll be talking about next time). Listeners, where do you find gam

The Purple and Yellow Episode

Jan 22 2025 68 mins  
In this episode we do our color-guided homework, explore the realm of rpg fiction written by people who haven't played rpgs (?), and talk about Epidiah "The Night Writer" Ravachol's handwriting strategy. Show Notes: Hobgoblin by John Coyne Witch and Wombat by Carolyn Cushman The CATS method is by Patrick O'Leary, and can be found in the TTRPG Safety Toolkit

The Coffee & Game Design Episode

Jan 08 2025 70 mins  
In this episode we lay out the template for Coffee & Game Design, assign some homework, delve into the archives for some Arcane Gems, share a war story and field a listener question about promoting our games. Show Notes: Color Contrast Bot on Mastodon Spencer Campbell's Unsung Hero thread on Bluesky Game We Talked About: The Shadow of Yesterday (html page with full t

The Cursed Episode

Dec 18 2024 73 mins  
In this Cursed Episode, despite being interrupted by a power outage we talk about some juicy Arcane Gems within our game discovery homework, and talk about our current works in progress. Show Notes: From the Guardian: "‘It’s game over for facts’: how vibes came to rule everything from pop to politics" The Ashcan Front Games We Talked About: Acts of Evil by Pa

Mounts, Death and Music

Dec 04 2024 67 mins  
Show Notes: Horse Armor (from Elder Scrolls, not World of Warcraft) The box that turns itself off is also called a useless machine Eppy tried to calculate the number of deck shuffle possibilies in The Shrike but it was too many Games We Talked About: The game where you play a sword is Wield by John Wick and Gillian Fraser the d1 RPG The Shrike And there's more: Unwrit

Plus Expenses #81

Nov 19 2024 43 mins  
In this Plus Expenses we talk about: It’s the official “crossover” Plus Expenses, James Garner handing off a baton to a wizard, feelings about ending Two Hundred a Day (but Two Hundred a Day will remain!), actually ending a thing, starting a new podcast: Unwritten Earths Symposium, how Plus Expenses will fit into the new show, the early days of Dread, building our new Discord

Enter the Symposium

Nov 19 2024 60 mins  
Welcome to the Unwritten Earths Symposium Podcast! On Episode 0, game designers Nathan D. Paoletta and Epidiah Ravachol introduce themselves, talk about the Symposium, and then uncover some arcane games from their game discovery homework. Have we designed a game yet? In this episode, we mentioned: Land of Nodd Stories From the Grave the d1 RPG The Shrike And there's more: