Austin Ramsay (he/him) is a tabletop RPG designer best known for Beam Saber, a Forged in the Dark game about mech pilots fighting an endless war. He joined me on this episode to talk about going from writing “imagination games” as a kid to 400+ page RPGs, creating rules that encourage player/GM collaboration, and how fun it can be to have a character go AWOL.

You can learn more about Austin’s games on itch, and follow him on cohost @AustinRamsayGames.

Austin’s Cool Things to Share
- Unjust Depths (Madiha Santana, 2020-ongoing)

Things Discussed
- Beam Saber (Austin Ramsay, 2019)
- Beam Saber: The Show (Austin Ramsay, 2024)
- You Don’t Meet In an Inn, an actual play podcast

- CalazCon, upcoming actual play podcast
- Forged in the Dark games
- Serenity Role Playing Game (Jamie Chambers, 2005)
- Rufus Roswell’s fictional/mechanical TTRPG action matrix

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.