iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I'd love to interview you about your ENnie nominated work. This is what the interviews I'm doing look like. Talk to the Bright Bards if you need a reference: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv0f...

youtube.com

Mushrooms that Talk to Gods! A conversation about ENnie Nominated MUSHIE MISSIONS. Ep. 106

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Hey! I'd love to have you on my podcast to talk about THIEVES. It's called D&D Outloud. Here's an episode with Mike Mearls & Kelsey Dionne. Let me know if you're interested! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRPJ...

youtube.com

Mike Mearls + Kelsey Dionne = An Hour of Happy Ep. 50

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

This is the best DungeonTube video I have seen in years, but it should have been titled, "TTRPGs 2035: Four Possible Futures." Baron spoke to dozens of TTRPG insiders, and essentially wrote a white paper on where the industry could be going. Essential viewing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZF...

youtube.com

Is D&D in Trouble?

YouTube video by Dungeon Masterpiece

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

games that didn’t just ask “What do you do?” but “What do you believe?” and “What does it cost you?” Phil’s work sits right at the crossroads of myth, philosophy, and punk-rock metaphysics.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

My other guest today is Satyros Phil Brucato: a name that radiates pure 90s occult bookshelf energy in the best possible way. Phil is a designer who helped define an era: Mage: The Ascension, Werewolf, Wraith;

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

He can write fantasy like Tolkien and run a business like, uh, someone whose geeky, good at running a business, and not at all ethically challenged in this year of 2026. He’s the creator of the MIDGARD campaign setting and the founder of Kobold Press.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

The Wild 90s in TTRPGs! This conversation was a great one! First up today is Wolfgang Baur, a creator and businessperson whose fingerprints are all over the hobby. youtu.be/dYThl7bUzZ0

youtu.be

The Wild 90s in TTRPGs! A conversation with Wolfgang Baur & Satyros Phil Brucato Ep- 86

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Hey! I have a podcast where TTRPG pros conversate, and another pro would like to speak to you on it. I'm pasting an example episode with Mike Mearls & Kelsey Dionne below. Message me and I'll talk details. Thanks in advance for your consideration. Ben Riggs PS: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRPJ...

youtube.com

Mike Mearls + Kelsey Dionne = An Hour of Happy Ep. 50

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

When he’s not redefining what “small press” can mean, he’s out there building the future one rulebook at a time. Give it up for the hat-tipping hero himself, Fred Hicks!

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Please welcome the unflappable, unstoppable Cam Banks! Next, he’s the co-founder of Evil Hat, one of the wizards who bottled lightning and called it Fate. He turned indie passion into publishing power and proved you can run a company on creativity and caffeine

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

He’s the Kiwi conjurer who helped create the Cortex System, which has been used on everything from Firefly to Marvel. He’s made the rules that make the stories sing, and he’s living proof that spreadsheets and sorcery can coexist.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Shamelessly, 30 minutes into this interview with Cam Banks & Fred Hicks, I share leaked D&D sales data. youtu.be/BJsGXTwujA4

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

This week, brilliant Bastionland creator Chris McDowall & Comedy Central veteran Jeremy Bent talk improvisation & art on D&D Outloud! youtu.be/pyxt_y9oV5I

youtu.be

The Ring Knight Honors the Weeping Seer-with Jeremy Bent & Chris McDowall Ep. 71

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

I wish I got to talk to him about the Saga edition of Star Wars. He was also one of the guys working on Project Sigil for Wizards until it was essentially strangled in its cradle by the company earlier this year. Now please behold a brilliant designer and a real mensch, Andy Collins! !

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

He’s a designer, a worldbuilder, and a relentless innovator in tabletop roleplaying games. Joining us as well is Andy Collins, a multi-tour veteran of the Wizards of the Coast. Andy, along with Rob and Jim Wyatt, was co-creator of D&D 4th edition, but his design credits don’t stop there.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

First up, we have Rob Heinsoo, one of the leading minds behind Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. He’s also the co-creator of 13th Age, a system that blends narrative freedom with crunchy mechanics in amazing ways.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Does 4E D&D have the best combat? The question leads us to a conversation with two of the game's three lead designers. youtu.be/CZhJBoki3qk

youtu.be

"D&D is Not in the Innovation Biz" A Conversation with Two 4th Ed Designers- Ep 70

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

My podcast has evolved into a conversation between TTRPG luminaries, and it's awesome. But it needs a new name. Current possibilities: Dungeons & Discussions Tabletop Team-Up The Riggscast/The Ben Riggs Show/Something else with my name in it. OR: Something else. Thoughts?

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

These two were on the team responsible for taking the words of the writers and the art of the artists and turning them into a physical book. What do they have to say about where Wizards was and where it’s going?

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Jesus Christ! I have 71 pages written and revised on the development of D&D 3.0 that have never seen the light of day? What the hell am I doing here?

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

And don’t sleep on Steve Winter — a living D&D legend. From sneaking into TSR through a second-story window to shaping 2e, 3e, and beyond, Steve has been part of D&D’s DNA for decades. Tune in. Nerd out. 🎲🔥

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

He’s the mind behind Knave 2e and the force behind Questing Beast, your portal to the wild, weird wonders of old-school RPGs. If you like sharp rules, deadly dungeons, and freedom at the table, Ben’s your guy.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

This one’s a banger: D&D designer Steve Winter meets Ben Milton of Questing Beast! Ben Milton is a game designer, YouTube sage, and sorceror-king of the OSR! www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRyV...

youtube.com

D&D Designer Meets the Questing Beast! Ep. 61

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Let’s recognize that, and arrange the government around counties and not around states. What that looks like though, I have no clue. And of course I could be wrong about all this, but I hope I’m not, because every other version of the future I look at is worse than this one.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

I think the next constitution needs to keep money out of politics and probably have a looser federal union based on your county not your state, because the great divide in America today is rural-urban.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Right now, I only have two thoughts about a new American constitution. (I’m just a teacher and a writer after all.)

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

This is a road to authoritarianism, perhaps even a leftist one depending on 2028, and eventually civil violence. Or we jump to the end of that road and make a new constitution.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

You may think the Supreme Court will stop her, but courts do not have a strong track record of curbing kings (or queens).

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

This new presidency is much more like an elected king than a chief executive. Now if you like Trump, you may love all this. But imagine these powers in the hands of President AOC. Imagine what she could do.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Congress could impeach and remove the president, but the past half century has proven that to be a hollow threat. If the president breaks the law, but does so in the course of doing their job as president, the Supreme Court has ruled they cannot be prosecuted for it.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Look at the checks on the president. Apparently, the president does not need to follow the instructions of Congress when it funds an agency the president doesn’t like, such as the Department of Education or USAID.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

The American Constitution died in the past six months, so we are going to need a new one. You may say that’s an exaggeration. I would ask then that you look at our constitutional system of checks and balances, ‘cause right now the checks don’t balance.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Hey, if you can get messages on here, I'd love to have you on my podcast. Email me at riggsbl@gmail.com if you're interested, and here's a sample episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRPJ...

youtube.com

Mike Mearls + Kelsey Dionne = An Hour of Happy Ep. 50

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

and he followed D&D from Wisconsin to Renton, Washington where he continued to produce work for D&D through 5th edition.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

He was a vital voice on 2nd edition AD&D. He was one of the first people to work on 3rd edition D&D, even though that project then passed on to other hands,

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

He began working on D&D back at TSR in downtown Lake Geneva, and once even broke into the offices by climbing in a second storey window.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

It is possible that Steve has the longest D&D career of anyone in the history of the game. (Fact check! He's probably #2.)

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

And Blades, which is itself an epochal piece of design, birthed an entire universe of games using its system. Second, we have D&D icon Steve Winter.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Blades in the Dark creator John Harper said that the origin of Blades in the Dark was a Stars Without Number campaign.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Stars was what I ran during the pandemic, and Worlds I read, and since the birth of my son, I read about one RPG every six months, but I had to put Worlds in that rotation just to see what Kevin did in it. To give just a taste of Kevin’s influence,

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

and Worlds Without Number, both of which have been tremendously successful and influential as paragons of sleek game design and peerless GM tools.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

I can't believe I got these two on the show together! First, Kevin Crawford is a TTRPG design legend. My favorites from his work are Stars Without Number, youtu.be/HLe3saMZYk4?...

youtu.be

Legendary RPG Designer Breaks Media Silence- Ep. 59

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Then, when D&D landed at Wizards, he found himself in charge of D&D, and had to figure out how to make the game make money again.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

He seems to have been present at a number of important moments during the transplantation of D&D from TSR to Wizards of the Coast. He went to Lake Geneva as part of a team to negotiate an initial purchase with TSR CEO Lorraine Williams.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

But I believe I have one of those people who could credibly tell a story explaining how they saved D&D on the podcast with me today, because today I am speaking with Ryan Dancey. Ryan is like a Rhode Island private who just happened to be at every major battle of the Civil War.

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Who saved Dungeons & Dragons? How many people could say that they saved Dungeons & Dragons? Off the top of my head, I would say that the list of people who could say they saved D&D at some point over the course of its 51-year history is less than 20. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OpW...

youtube.com

Did this guy save Dungeons & Dragons? Ep 58

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

The voice of male Commander Shephard, Mark Meer, conversates with Ravenloft co-creator Bruce Nesmith and Ravenloft author James Lowder. Click here! youtu.be/sEGxpb4iMbA

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Ben Riggs @benriggs.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Smith is the lead designer or Barkeep on the Borderlands, a pubcrawl pointcrawl that is equal parts 1st edition homage, wine-soaked bachelorette party, and Terry Pratchett. youtu.be/aRodkObOz8Y

youtu.be

Are Hexcrawls the Adventure's Final Form? with Jacob Hurst & WF Smith Ep. 56

YouTube video by Reading D&D Aloud

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