The First Year of Wait, Roll That Again!

Welcome back to Wait, Roll That Again! I hope you’ve been enjoying the holiday season, and able to recharge a little bit before the new year!

If you’re new around here, this is a podcast/blog about tabletop game design, where I talk about my first steps into the world of designing tabletop RPGs! This was the first year of Wait, Roll That Again!, so I’d like to look back on the year that was, and forward to next year.

2023 Rewind!

Podcasting:

• I released Season One of Wait, Roll That Again! Eight episodes of narrative podcasting that followed me from idea to playtest, and all the weird twists and turns along the way! I’m really proud of it, and I pushed myself really hard to try new things in the podcast space. In January, I’ll be releasing a full retrospective post to reflect on the series so far, and talk about my aims for season two.

Writing:

• I wrote 14 Articles about Game Design, including specific game design updates and explorations of design theory. This was kind of unexpected for me, as I didn’t anticipate how much I’d enjoy writing for the blog. I’m looking forward to doing more in this space next year, hosting more guest articles and more!

Fight or Fright V0.1:

• Work continues on Fight or Fright, the game I’m working on as part of the podcast! I’m in the last phases before I’m ready to release the public playtest version, working on some final rules tweaks and then editing the document. Expect that in January! I’d really hoped to get it finished before the end of this year, but the holiday season has been a busy one. Still, I’m getting it closer and closer to the finish line! Subscribe now

Looking to 2024

2024 is sure to be a massive year for the RPG scene, lots of new games coming out, supposedly D&D is getting an edition change or update, and hopefully this all means more attention on the indie TTRPG space.

What’s coming in 2024 For Wait, Roll That Again?

• Releasing Season Two of Wait, Roll That Again! in the second half of the year!

• Releasing more posts over the course of the year about game design and other RPG related topics! I’m aiming to release blog articles fortnightly? We’ll see how that goes!

• Releasing Fight or Fright in it’s fully complete form! Aiming for a full release alongside the end of season two, around October/Halloween!

• Possibly a short Actual Play series to coincide with the release of Fight or Fright!

That sounds like a lot, but it’s all work I’m really excited for!

Some personal goals:

• I’d love to design at least one other short game, possibly to release alongside KiwiRPG week in June. I’ve got a few ideas in mind, and I’d love to work on something different as a break!

• On a technical note, I’m moving away from my typical editing software and trying to learn REAPER! I decided to make a switch after speaking with some local podcast producers, I’m looking forward to seeing what this program could do for me.

• I want to explore the production of Actual Plays for podcasting. I’m really inspired by the work over at with My First Dungeon and Fortunate Horse’s World’s Beyond Number. So hopefully I get to play around in that space!

• Miniature painting was always one of my favourite parts of playing Dungeons and Dragons back in High School, and I’d love to try paint a little more consistently! It would help to get a bit more of my miniature backlog painted… I spent Christmas day painting, and that was really delightful. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into this habit soon!

• I’d love to guest on a podcast! This one’s just a bit of a personal milestone, but one that would be really sweet. I’d love to talk about using the narrative podcast style to explore game design, and some of the unique challenges and opportunities the medium allows for in the RPG space.

• Play lots more RPGs. Self-explanatory, but I’m really excited to experience more RPGs at the table, and maybe talk about those experiences here.

• And the big one, I’m moving to Austria! I’m excited to get to know Vienna, and really interested in engaging with the local RPG scene. Expect to see me writing about that experience sometime around April/May!

Hosting the Newsletter

In case you’ve missed it, Substack, the platform I’ve been using to host this podcast has taken a pretty bizarre stance, allowing hate speech to be monetized and actively refusing to remove Nazi publications. That’s not really something I’d like to be a part of!

Unfortunately, I’m not currently in a position to move to another platform. With my move overseas coming up, and a lack of affordable options, I’m going to wait and see what the best course of action is. My hope is that they reverse their decisions, but I don’t anticipate they’ll abandon their foolish convictions anytime soon. I’m actively looking for a better solution but I’ll likely have to wait till I’m in a more secure position after moving. I’ll keep you posted on this!

Thank you!

Let’s not end on that note. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who listened, read, shared, or just interacted with Wait, Roll That Again! this year. This has been a massive passion project, and I can’t wait to get stuck into this all again in the new year.

If you’re deciding whether or not you’d like to jump into the RPG space in 2024, I hope this podcast and blog helps convince you it is totally worth it!

See you all in 2024