Leading & Following in Dungeons & Dragons Games - Martin Heuschober

My guest on the podcast this week is Martin Heuschober, a software programmer, blues dancer, and player of table top role-play games, the most famous of which is Dungeons and Dragons. These games are highly improvisational and rely on - you guessed it - highly dynamic leading and following. Martin describes how game master and players engage in collaborative storytelling through continuous exchange of leading and following. I even get to play a short scene as a private investigator, complete with dramatic dice-roll!

“A creative follower is something very precious and very delightful”

“Following is necessary in both roles.”

“When I’m leading I’m creating an opportunity for my follow to show their talent or their creativity and express themselves.”

“The essence of role playing is that your actions need to have an impact.” 

Actual Play

Critical role: Probably the most prominent (actual play) show right now - these are professional voice actors, so they know how to make their characters be very recognizable. 

Dimension 20: Series of fun D&D shows by UCB alumni

LA by Night: Series in the setting of Vampire: the Masquerade, a horror-themed game

Red Moon Role-Playing: Radio audio drama style of games, mostly horror genre

Safety Tools

Gehenna Gaming Consent Form: A good tool when running/playing horror games to make sure you are aware of your own and your players boundaries

RPG Safety Toolkit by Kienna Shaw: More tools to keep the players comfortable and the characters frightened

About Role Playing

Adventuring Academy: A podcast about role playing