Drink Spin Run S2 E7.2: Pushing Boundaries and Innovation

Drink Spin Run: The RPG Talkshow Podcast

Our Guests
+Alex Mayo
+Chris Kutalik
Show Notes after the jump

Guest Notes

Chris Kutalik

• Hydra Cooperative
• Hill Cantons blog
• Slumbering Ursine Dunes
• Fever-Dreaming Marlinko
• [NEW!] Misty Isles of the Eld

Alex Mayo

• Layout and illustration for lots of OSR products!
• Penetralia blog - No longer available

Show Notes

This is the second half of our conversation with Chris & Alex. The first part (Episode 7.1) aired on 3/24/16.
Talking about pushing boundaries.
Chris messes with form a lot, specifically the point-crawl.

• Problem: "Where are these things in the hex?"
• Instead of "What's in the hex?" the point-crawl strips out the empty space and instead moves between interesting things.
• (Then Adam kind of missed the point and got corrected by Chris)

Alex pushes boundaries in art.

A common thread in this conversation (but that Adam doesn't realize until the end) is that better decisions, better innovations and better gaming happens when we are authentic and genuine to our own thoughts and experiences.

Alex: "One of the things that I love about the OSR is that it's an aesthetic movement as much as a movement about mechanics." [Paraphrase]

"Where is the innovation in the OSR?" was a trolly thread that circulated on G+ in the beginning of 2016. While the folks behind that thread claimed they asked their question in good faith, they promptly shut down many OSR innovators who contributed to the conversation.
Adam: "The innovation & boundary pushing in the OSR isn't about the rules, it's about form, structure and content."
Donn seems to experience a degree of dissonance when he exposes himself to too many rule sets.
Alex: "Boundaries are pushed in the community at large as a hive mind."
Adam: "It's as much incubation as innovation."
Our favorite boundary-pushers:

• Alex - James Raggi & Lamentations of the Flame Princess line
• Chris - Hydra Coop stuff, especially Jason Sholtis's Operation Unfathomable, and Patrick Stewart & Scrap Princess's Broken Fire Regime
• Donn - Zzarchov Kowalski's Scenic Dunnsmouth & Thulian Echoes
• Adam - Jason Lutes's Perilous Wilds, Zak S.'s Red & Pleasant Land and Vornheim

Who are we most excited about their next creation?

• Alex - Zzarchov Kowalski
• Chris - Gus L. (not sure how he spells his last name)
• Donn - Mike Evans (specifically Hubris)
• Adam - Erik Jensen (Wampus Country forever!)

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Drink Spin Run. If you like what you've heard, share us with your friends, leave us an iTunes review or send us an email at [e-mail]. You can also support us at http://www.patreon.com/DSRCast. Our theme music was generously provided by the band Blue Snaggletooth (http://bluesnaggletooth.bandcamp.com). Once again, thanks for listening, you gorgeous listeners.