This week on Frame Work, we’re trying something a bit different. We welcome authentic Dungeon Master Tyler Jakes to the program for a look at maybe the most sneakily influential game of all time, that old school Satanist recruitment tool, Dungeons and Dragons. And the specific influence we’re talking about is the one it’s had on RPG video games, from Zork to Skyrim and all points in between. It’s a wide ranging conversation, on the intersection of data nerds and fantasy nerds, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, the d20 system as a metaphor for privilege, whether anyone can legally own Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution, and whether video games will ever be able to fully duplicate the freedom of choice a tabletop game is capable of, and if that’s even a worthwhile thing to shoot for. We had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope you all do too.

As always, you can find old episodes on most reputable podcast apps, including our ongoing David Fincher series, which returns next week with Se7en.