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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

New episode is up. We're taking a detour through cybernetics, specifically Ross Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety, to explain why GMs burn hours writing contingency branches that never get used. youtu.be/G8UQZdbQrlA

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Prep Isn't Enough: Why More Contingency Branches Never Close the Gap

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Ever watch a player go quiet after one laugh and never really come back from it? Or a GM who ran a great session and still thinks she got lucky? New RPG PHD video is up, breaking down the psychology behind both, table by table. youtu.be/LTYiqHhRwYk

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Psychological Safety & Self-efficacy for TTRPGs

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

New episode is live: what systems engineering and Silicon Valley startups can teach you about designing a tabletop RPG. If you've ever built five mechanics at once and had no idea which one broke the game, this one's for you. youtu.be/d0h42Hs1eNw

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Core Loop First: What Modularity and MVP Can Teach You About Designing Your Own Game

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Status transactions, why the railroad is technically a block, spontaneity over cleverness, and the reincorporation trick that makes an improvised session feel planned from session one. New video: Johnstone's Five Principles. youtu.be/5QUmcViedk4

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Impro For GMs: Status, Accepting, Spontaneity, & Reincorporation

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

youtu.be/c5JeVOw7r3E The psychology of character loss: why the grief is real,what actors already know about exiting a role cleanly, and a full step-by-step process for handling a character's death or retirement at the table.

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Real Enough to Grieve: The Psychology Behind Losing a Character You Built

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

New script's up: why a quiet player at your table might be checked out, or might be the most engaged person in the room, and how those two states can look exactly the same from the GM's seat. youtu.be/oG5CeP-yKNI

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Decoding TTRPG Player Silence: A Diagnostic Guide to the Mechanisms Behind Quiet Players

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Your players didn't miss the clue because they weren't paying attention. They missed it because the room's noise floor buried it. New episode on Signal Detection Theory, from WWII radar rooms to your table. youtu.be/XRgPWjyV1z4

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The Noise Floor: Calibrating What Players Notice

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

youtu.be/qt8qgf3S_as Part two is live. Characterization, Observation, and Rhythm, the final three of Boleslavski's six acting lessons applied to players, GMs, and designers. Plus a full step-by-step guide and an honest look at where the framework breaks down.

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Serve the Scene: Acting Lessons for TTRPG Players, GMs, and Designers (Part 2)

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

youtu.be/I7fGMU6n5iQ Many table problems get blamed on player engagement or GM skill. But there's a 90 year old acting manual that diagnoses almost all of them by name. Part one of a two-part series is live. Concentration, Memory of Emotion, Dramatic Action applied to players, GMs, and designers.

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Inside the Scene: Boleslavski's Acting Lessons for TTRPG Players, GMs, and Designers (Part 1)

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

This week on RPG PHD, we're breaking down front stage, back stage, and impression management, and applying it directly to your GM screen, your NPCs, and the split between your character self and your actual self at the table. youtu.be/xVbBKDu7Arc

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Two Selves, One Table: Applying Goffman's Dramaturgical Theory to GMing

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Why does one failed roll ruin someone's session while another player shrugs it off? It's not resilience. It's psychology. Three frameworks explain what's actually happening when failure lands at your table. youtu.be/VkJ_TIU0js8

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Why Failure Hurts: Loss Aversion, Attribution Theory, and the Psychology of Blame

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Your character feels hollow. The campaign is good. The GM is doing everything right. So what's wrong? Identity psychology has an answer. Three frameworks, one diagnosis: you might be playing the wrong character for who you actually are. youtu.be/rsuSfl-clyo

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Build to Last: Identity Psychology Behind Characters Players Actually Care About

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

The monster isn't what frightens them. The corridor is. Five fields of research explain why the architecture gets to your players before any threat does. New video up now. youtu.be/PKvKQQuNcAI

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Why Your Dungeon Descriptions Produce Dread Before Any Monster Appears

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

That one player who's always in the middle of every scene? In this week's RPG PHD, Dr. Ben breaks down the psychology of Main Character Syndrome in TTRPGs. Six frameworks. One loop. And a step-by-step GM toolkit for designing your way out of it. youtu.be/qyPUL8Oyuko

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Hogging the Spotlight: Six Frameworks for Understanding Your Dominant Player

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you. We hit 10,000 subscribers on the channel and I am humbled by it. None of this happens without all of you and so thanks to each and every one of you who made this possible. Sincerely, Dr. Ben

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Why do engaged players stop engaging? New RPG PHD breaks down Self-Determination Theory and the three psychological needs your campaign is either meeting or destroying: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. youtu.be/JHgRQMnKEl0

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Motivated to Play: Applying Self-Determination Theory to TTRPG Design and Game Mastering

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Had a blast on the Creative Contraband podcast talking with Dani about authority in TTRPG spaces. Ever wonder why some players become murderhobos and others push back on every authority structure the GM sets up? Milgram might have an answer. open.spotify.com/episode/1feR...

open.spotify.com

Dr. Ben Teaches Us About Authority - C.C. S2E1

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM · Episode

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Your passive player problem is a psychology problem. The Bystander Effect explains exactly why players disengage. New RPG PHD video: the research, the design audit, and the fix. youtu.be/rhMi6Ob52VI

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Bystander Effect: The Psychology Behind Passive Players and the Design & GMing That Fixes It

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Every published adventure has a dramatic skeleton buried underneath the description. Beat mapping is how you find it. youtu.be/is-HyQwrZVw

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Beat Mapping: The Hidden Structure Inside Every Adventure Module

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

FBI hostage negotiation tactics applied to tabletop RPG social encounters. Six techniques, one framework, new video up. youtu.be/D5Bub6D9MdM

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Negotiate Like the FBI: Real Hostage Tactics At Table

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

In this video we take theories of design, cognitive psychology, and visual rhetoric and apply them directly to character sheet design. youtu.be/lACXToo83dU

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How the Design of Your Character Sheet Shapes Players

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

youtu.be/WQNJz3GO6lQ In this week's lecture, we're pulling from psychology, theatrical theory, and music cognition to build a complete framework for dramatic tension curves and rhythmic pacing.

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GM's Guide to Dramatic Tension Curves and Rhythmic Pacing

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

My newest RPG PHD video explores operant conditioning as a lens for thinking about player engagement, reward architecture, feedback loops, and the behavioral psychology behind what keeps a table locked in. youtu.be/KJVIUJObJTw

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Operant Conditioning for Gamemastering and Design

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Today we’re officially launching the RPG PHD Discord. A lot of you have been asking for a community space, so here it is. This is a place to talk tabletop RPGs, game mastering, design, theory, storytelling, and all the other ideas we explore on the channel. discord.gg/STFdne3PbU

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Join the RPG PHD Discord Server!

Check out the RPG PHD community on Discord - hang out with 22 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

What makes players obey authority in a tabletop RPG… and what makes them resist it? My newest RPG PHD video explores the Milgram experiments as a lens for thinking about authority, obedience, conformity, social pressure, and player agency in TTRPGs. youtu.be/UJ88XTulFic

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What the Milgram Experiments Can Teach Us About Authority in TTRPGs

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

youtu.be/vKPipUauewo New video is up on Schema Theory and TTRPGs. I’m digging into how players interpret clues, build expectations, misread situations, and learn how to read a campaign world over time and what GMs can do with that at the table.

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How Schema Theory Shapes Clues, Expectations, and Meaning in TTRPGs

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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rpg-phd.bsky.social @rpg-phd.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

youtu.be/IrsdWItTFnE In Waiting Kills Momentum, I explore how queuing theory can help us think about initiative, spotlight, pacing, downtime, and player engagement in tabletop RPGs.

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How Queuing Theory Can Help GMs and Designers Keep Players Engaged

YouTube video by RPG PHD

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