ADAPTING MEDIEVAL TALES INTO TTRPG ADVENTURES
WHO WE ARE
Maniculum: little hand, pointing finger; often found in manuscript marginalia
Hi! We're Mac and Zoe - two medievalists and game designers teaching you how to adapt medieval texts into TTRPG adventures. Together, we "point the finger" back to the Middle Ages.
As medievalists, we found a huge accessibility gap between the sources and settings TTRPG gamers want and the availability of medieval texts that we love due to translation, education, and academic paywalling. The Maniculum exists to make these fantastical texts accessible while also teaching game design principles so that creators, homebrewers, and gamers can create inspiring and “historical-feeling" games without falling into the harmful stereotypes and anachronistic cliches that have populated many TTRPG games.
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In each episode, we explore a new medieval manuscript, its connections to modern TTRPGs, and teach you how to adapt these tales into compelling campaigns and amazing adventures. This podcast is a love letter to the weird and wacky medieval stories that we as academics love, and we as gamers want to play.
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HOSTS
MAC
Purdue University
Mac has a Doctorate of English language and linguistics from Purdue University, and has presented papers at the International Congress on Medieval Studies. He has over a decade of experience adapting material to tabletop roleplaying games, and currently teaches literature courses at university.
ZOE FRANZNICK
Trinity College Dublin & Wolfeye Studios
Zoe is a Nebula & BAFTA-nominated, GDC & Peabody award-winning writer & game designer who wrote on Obsidian Entertainment’s medieval murder mystery, Pentiment. She has an M.Phil in Medieval Studies from Trinity College Dublin and is currently a narrative designer at Wolfeye Studios.
Check out her other work here.
At a Glance:
Since 2020, we've achieved
100,000+ total downloads & 5,000+ monthly downloads
with 20 years of professional expertise over 100 episodes.
CONNECT WITH US!
For general inquiries or more information, please get in touch.
