Ep 58 - Alex Clippinger: Game Design & Adapting 5e

The incredible and prolific TTRPG designer, Alex Clippinger has joined us this week to give us an inside look into Cubicle 7's new project, Broken Weave, drop some game design knowledge, and talk through some of the benefits and pitfalls of adapting Dungeons & Dragons: Fifth Edition. This was a fantastic conversation covering several topics including points of focus for growing as a designer, expectations we bring to the table, burgeoning out into playing non-D&D systems, and much more.

We ended with some pretty major takeaways from this episode that were unique to Alex's experience. A huge THANK YOU to Alex for doing this interview and hopefully this won't be the last time we hear from him.

Find Alex here:
Website: https://aclippinger.carrd.co/
Twitter: @Aclippinger
DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Alex%20Clippinger
DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/17366/Alex-Clippinger

Our Website: https://icastspells.com
Our Twitter: @passive_podcast
Our Email: passiveaggropod@protonmail.com

Show Breakdown:

• 0:00: Intro
• 03:06: A little about Alex
• 03:58: "How did you get into freelancing?"
• 05:37: "Were you a writer before you started doing TTRPG work?"
• 08:49: "How did you get into the hobby of TTRPGs in general?"
• 12:44: "How have you evolved as a designer and a writer since you first started out?"
• 17:52: "How does genre play into your design process, and how do you utilize your influences?"
• 24:47: Inside look at Broken Weave from Cubicle 7; one of Alex's newest unreleased projects
• 34:36: "In the modern trend of 5e adaptations, why do you think it's so common?"
• 38:01: "What is your interest in making 5e adaptations and how is it different from the alternatives?"
• 39:34: "Do you think underdevelopment of the D&D: 5e system is a major design pitfall?"
• 42:53: "What are you gaining and what are you sacrificing when you make the decision to adapt D&D: 5e?"
• 46:17: "Do you think that people sometimes limit themselves by trying to adapt certain game types to D&D: 5e when other systems might already d that thing better?"
• 53:38: Outro

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:06 A little about Alex
• 3:58 "How did you get into freelancing?"
• 5:37 "Were you a writer before you started doing TTRPG work?"
• 8:49 "How did you get into the hobby of TTRPGs in general?"
• 12:44 "How have you evolved as a designer and a writer since you first started out?"
• 17:52 "How does genre play into your design process, and how do you utilize your influences?"
• 24:47 Inside look at Broken Weave from Cubicle 7; one of Alex's newest unreleased projects
• 34:36 "In the modern trend of 5e adaptations, why do you think it's so common?"
• 38:01 "What is your interest in making 5e adaptations and how is it different from the alternatives?"
• 39:34 "Do you think underdevelopment of the D&D: 5e system is a major design pitfall?"
• 45:53 "What are you gaining and what are you sacrificing when you make the decision to adapt D&D: 5e?"
• 46:17 "Do you think that people sometimes limit themselves by trying to adapt certain game types to D&D: 5e when other systems might already d that thing better?"
• 53:38 Outro