John is the creator of Leverage and Leverage: Redemption, as well as The Librarians, Jackie Chan Adventures and more. We sat down to play MERGER, a solo RPG about trying to survive in a world of living predatory corporations (which, in addition to being an apt way to describe living in 2026, is literal in this case–massive, soul-consuming eldritch horrors given flesh).
Modern
Stories set in our world, or worlds adjacent to our own.
478 – Zoetrope with Myq Kaplan
Myq is a standup comedian of over 20 years, who has appeared on the Tonight Show, Conan, Letterman, James Corden, Seth Meyers, Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, and America’s Got Talent. He’s also the host of Broccoli and Ice Cream and The Faucet, and his latest special, Rini, developed with his partner of over a decade, is available on YouTube right now.
We sat down to build a superhero world and celebrate our mutual love of comic books and big ideas in a game of Zoetrope, a superhero worldbuilding game about creating a comic book universe.
475 – Time to Drop with Emma Shannon
Emma is host of Unnatural Selection on the Moonshot Podcast Network, about film adaptations of books, the weird choices Hollywood makes, and what actually constitutes a “good” adaptation. He’s also a cast member on Interstitial Infinity (an Actual Play podcast about troubled pop culture teens on the Infinity Train) and Dead Teen House Party, a rewatch podcast of MTV’s Scream series.
We geared up, gathered our crew, and pulled the job of the century in fellow Moonshot podcast bestie Marn Lastname’s Time to Drop, a time loop heist game about a group of thieves forced to pull off the same job again… and again… and again… and again… and again… and again…
473 – The Cryptid Show with Mike Schubert
Mike is a longtime podcaster, and host of the show The Newest Olympian, which seeks to answer the question, “Has society been sleeping on the Percy Jackson series?”. His new show, Professional Talkers, is a comedic advice podcast all about navigating life’s awkward conversations with Sequoia Simone.
We wanted to talk about working in audio, and coming to the artform of podcasting, and so we sat down for a delightful game of The Cryptid Show, a two-player conversational RPG about a call-in radio show host answering a caller’s questions about their recent supernatural experience. It was a DELIGHT.
471 – Tapestry with Kaitlin Bruder
Kaitlin is one of the producers behind Thin Places Radio, an award-winning short-form fiction podcast in the shape of a radio show from nowhere, in which the mysterious Host comes responds to real voicemails from actual callers with supernaturally sentimental anecdotes and advice. She’s also a streamer, actual play performer, artist, and designer–a fellow wearer of many creative hats.
We sat down for a session of Kaitlin’s favorite game, Tapestry, an interpretive card-based RPG of weaving character’s stories together, and coming to witness the tanged, densely interconnected threads and patterns that result.
470 – Hunt(er/ed) with Cate Osborn
Cate is an author, podcaster, ADHD educator & advocate, kinkster and Shakespeare nerd. She hosts Sorry I Missed This, an everything guide to ADHD and relationships, and her new book, The ADHD Field Guide For Adults, drops in March. She’s also running vampire games at literal Castle Dracula as one of the GMs of Danube of the Damned, which is one of the coolest sentences I’ve ever gotten to write.
We got deep in the weeds on backyard concerts, monsters, lost identities, and tense showdowns between hunter and hunted in HUNTER(ER/ED) by Dillin Apelyan and Meghan Cross.
466 – Shadow / Giant with Rahrah
Rahrah is the creator and GM of The Heart is a Dungeon, an actual play TTRPG podcast focused on sad, emotional storytelling with a primarily BIPOC and fem presenting cast. We tapped into that deep, vulnerable spirit in a game of Shadow / Giant, an asymmetrical RPG about a gruff loner forced to take care of a mysteriously magically powerful child. Can they support one another as they race against the odds towards some kind of safety?
464 – Lights Out with Marty Schneider
Marty is one of the hosts of Breaking Mayberry, an anti-nostalgia podcast focused on watching old TV (starting with, as the title suggests, The Andy Griffith Show) and assessing what holds up and what caused permanent damage to the psyche of an entire generation.
We wanted to talk TV, and storytelling, and the weird politics of creating collaborative art, and so we sat down with Lights Out, a game about the last day on set of a long running TV show.
463 – CLASH! with Sabrina Hawthorne
CLASH! Shonen Battle Roleplay is a Tabletop Roleplaying Game love letter to shonen anime such as Bleach, One Piece, and Naruto in which big, bombastic characters grapple with dramatic fights and the dramatic emotions those fights represent.
I sat down with the game’s designer, Sabrina Hawthorne, to see the game in action.
460 – Mirror Match with Jackson Adams
Mirror Match is a role-playing game love letter to fighting games. Players create warriors based on shared themes and origins before facing off in arena combat. Inspired by two-player fighting games, sessions see new characters constantly enter the fray and the game provides scaffolding to create your own universe of mad ninja, shotgun-toting wizards, dragon-gods, and more. All of those characters will face off in the viscera-soaked court of Bloody Mary and only you can decide how they’ll fare in her wicked gaze.
I sat down with the game’s designer, Jackson Adams, to see the game in action.