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Hosted by Violet & Freya · 🇺🇸 US · EN-GB · 19 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Welcome to System Shop, the podcast where we deep dive into RPG design, one subsystem at a time.Join us as we explore the origins, empirical trends, and future design space of all aspects of tabletop game design. What’s the point of mechanising carrying capacity or NPC attitudes? Why distinguish between armour and evasion, or attributes and skills? Many stories may begin with “because D&D did it”, but that’s far from the end…We dig deeper by asking: how do differences in design decisions make players act and feel, and is this wholly intended? What is gained or lost by being able to sum up a monster with a challenge rating? How can initiative checks be used to make combat feel chaotic, tactical, or somewhere in between?Finally, we suggest our own ideas for future innovations. Can we introduce new technologies and props? Can we shed assumptions of the past? Or should we bring them to the fore and embrace them to the extreme? Restrictions breed creativity, and our best ideas are often
Violet & Freya hosts System Shop, a leisure show with 19 episodes published.
In this foolish episode, we…. Wait, what is it we do here again? I… I can’t remember… we’ve got a long road ahead of us if we’re going to make sense of all this. (Seriously. It turns out we can’t even begin to answer thi
In this ravenous episode, Violet is joined by returning guest Roz Leahy as we* talk about hunger mechanics. Don’t get confused with cozy campfire cooking: we’re discussing the tension and drama of * not* getting the sust
In this conclusive episode, we round off our discussion of mapmaking. How can random map generation both add and remove meaning in a world? Is verisimilitude in tension with playability? Do spaces need to generate confli
In this tradition-setting bonus episode, Freya debriefs about the mechanics and tabletop experiences of seven games she played, two she ran, and one she designed (!) at Contingency 2026, the UK’s premier seasonally skewe
In this unconventionally conventional episode, Violet talks about a recent event in Edinburgh. Violet has to hand it to handouts. Freya learns about a Thing or two. Violet takes the wrong notes. Freya is unexpectedly out
In this tailor-made episode, we discuss the advantages and challenges of using and writing pre-generated character sheets. Is there a sweet spot of player choice? And what are the risks of telling players exactly who the
In this genre-defining episode, Violet and Freya are joined by fiancée of the show Imogen Gingell to talk about bringing a beloved videogame genre to the tabletop. How can you faithfully capture the themes while adapting
In this all-out episode, we discuss dual wielding and various other kinds of multiplicative modes of attack. How can frequency-focused fighting styles make different characters feel different? And how can you balance att
In this trailblazing episode, we have our first ever guest and our first ever two-parter! We’re joined by Roz Leahy, game designer and editor, to talk all about maps. Who makes the map, and when? How is the act of mapmak
In this camaraderie-ridden episode, we’re talking about mechanics for helping other characters in joint efforts. We discuss how teamwork can double the risks, double the rewards, and hopefully say something about the nat
Welcome to the very first* episode of System Shop, the podcast where we deep dive into RPG design, one subsystem at a time. Today, we’re talking about inventory systems: what’s the point of tracking all your bits and bob
In this nominally spooky episode, we’re talking about DEATH. Who decides when a hero falls - is it the whims of the dice, the demands of the narrative, or a knife-edge entente between the two? Violet calculates the exact
In this first ever bonus episode, Freya reflects on the games she played at Contingency 2025 - a TTRPG convention on the wintry Norfolk coast. We discuss a pair of very yellow games, ruminate upon “A+B” dice mechanics, a
In this level-appropriate episode, we discuss encounter design through the lens of totally objective ratings of enemies’ power levels. Yes, we do mention Dragonball Z - but somehow entirely refrain from any “over 9000” j
How do you figure out who’s on first? And how do you balance the excitement of surprise against the satisfaction of a perfectly executed plan? Violet advocates for inaction. Freya trusts in the heart of the cards. Violet
In this bonus episode, Violet discusses the games she ran and played at Con-Pulsion 2026…. Which she in-con-veniently forgets to name during the recording. Whoops! ***** Timestamps ***** Panels & speakers - 02:55 Unravel
Just a brief update on the podcast, which is going on a brief hiatus due to various personal issues. Our intro music is "Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By A
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System Shop is hosted by Violet & Freya. The show is categorised under leisure (games) and has published 19 episodes.
System Shop has published 19 episodes.
System Shop regularly covers leisure, games, arts. It sits in the leisure category, with a games focus.
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Episodes of System Shop average 87 minutes, giving guests a long-form format with plenty of time to expand on their expertise.
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