Sigmata & Cryptomancer: Gauntlet Podcast Interview

SIGNAL-PLAYER GAME
Today on the Gauntlet Podcast I talk with Chad Walker, designer of Cryptomancer. He has a Kickstarter currently running for his game Sigmata: This Signal Kills Fascists. We talk about both games, ideas of security, and how politics fit into his rpgs. You can find the podcast link here. We’ve also posted the audio on YouTube and I've linked that below. 

I really dug this conversation. It gave me greater insight into Cryptomancer, a game that surprised me in play. It’s on my short list of rpgs to revisit for the Gauntlet Hangouts in 2018. Sherri always brings it up when we discuss future campaigns. After I ran my online sessions I wrote a post/review you can see here; that links to our actual play videos. 

We recorded this interview before Walker finalized his campaign's launch, so we missed a couple of things. In particular he hadn’t pulled together his stretch goal projects. Since then he's added several designers authors with new material. As of this writing he’s funded four of those: 

• "Black Snake Rebellion" by Ishki Ricard which delves into Native American issues and ideas. 
• "Cable Street" by G. Michael Truran offering an alternate version of 1936 Great Britain. 
• "The Complex" by Shae Roberts which combines the Manchurian Candidate with the Black Panthers. 
• "The Missing Women of India" by jim pinto gives an alternate setting of hyper-Patriarchy and India.

The campaign has several more cool ones in the pipeline, including Kira Magrann’s cyberpunk South Africa: "Chromewall." I’m glad to see the project bringing in more material dealing with representation and diversity. That’s made me even more eager for the final result. 

I'm cautiously optimistic about seeing more games tackle political issues, even at a tangent. There's certainly something in the air between Bully Pulpit's Winterhorn Robert Bohl's revision of Misspent Youth. 

I hope you'll check out the podcast; I think it's solid.