S1E6 - Sean Gomes - Having Dinner on Space Ships

Game Mechanics - A Critical Tabletop Podcast

Welcome to Game Mechanics, a show about Tabletop Roleplaying Games from lots of different perspectives. I’m Logan Jenkins.

Today, I’m talking to Sean Gomes, writer of Uncharted Worlds, a Powered by the Apocalypse TTRPG. I am a total Sean Gomes fanboy. There’s a mechanic in UW called “Cramped Quarters;” when the characters are stuck together for a long time (like for space travel) they roll to see whether they had some bad blood, a moment of friendship, or a revelation about a character’s past. I mean it when I say that “Cramped Quarters” has changed the way I play ALL my games. I bring that move to every game I GM, and it succeeds so well at establishing characters as real people with real relationships to their teammates (something I think is sorely lacking in a lot of games.)

Sean’s main gig is as an animator in the video games industry, and it shows in his answers. Lots of very different angles for answers to my questions. I’m so excited to share this conversation with you, so let’s get to it!

Oh! And, weirdly, this conversation took place before quarantine… so we make some references to being trapped inside for weeks as a “what if” scenario… that is of course happening right now to all of us… weird times. Just a heads-up that it comes up.

Follow Logan and today's guest:

• Logan: @LoganJenkins
• Sean can be found on The Gauntlet Forums

Game Mechanics is hosted and supported by The Orange Groves podcast network.