Alex and Mollie Damon talk running their new Star Wars-inspired actual play, Hyperdice

Over the last few years, I've had the pleasure of being interviewed by Alex and Mollie of Star Wars Explained. Recently, the pair have launched a new venture, a TTRPG actual play channel, Hyperdice.

After thoroughly enjoying episode one of their first series, I decided to turn the table and ask them some questions about putting on an actual play and go from talking about stories to creating one.

Alex and Mollie, great to speak to you. You've recently launched Hyperdice, which is a change of pace from your Star Wars Explained content. So, why actual play, and why now?

Alex: It's an idea we've tossed around for several years. I've always thought it could be fun, but I'd never run a game before, and I wasn't sure we had the equipment to pull it off. So we started a test campaign and I immediately fell in love with doing it. As for the now, I wish we'd actually started it years ago instead of dragging my feet about it!

Mollie: As Alex said, he's been wanting to try running his own game and campaign for a while and since we knew it was going to be set in Star Wars we couldn't pass on the opportunity to film it and share it with the wonderful community we've built. As for why now, with anything we do we can try and prep and plan as much as we can but sometimes you just have to start the project and learn as you go.

After years of reviewing Star Wars stories, what's it like to suddenly be responsible for one?

Alex: I guess I don't feel completely responsible for it. I'm providing some structure, but everything is so heavily improvised and collaborative, the responsibility feels spread across the table. But it was really fun to see how our characters ended every episode, and then building off of that by looking at what preexisting Star Wars stuff made sense to include next. The end of the season was probably my favorite to prepare, trying to bring everything full circle.

Mollie: After over a decade of running the Star Wars Explained channel I felt extremely well prepped and capable story wise once we got a few sessions in. Aside from Alex trying to keep us from breaking canon, as the story progressed I felt more and more comfortable helping steer the group in a direction that made the most sense.

You're using the Teens In Space system. Why did you opt for that one?

Alex: I chose Teens In Space because it's simple. I love playing D&D, but even after years of experience it's still so complicated to me. I knew I could never run my first game in that system, and I love Fantasy Flight's Edge system, but still, those dice are covered in symbols I'd have to remember. I saw an episode of Dimension 20 where they used a Kids on Bikes variant and I was immediately inspired by how that could work in Star Wars, and that was one of the pushes I needed to actually start making Hyperdice. The dice are still important to guiding the course of the story, but the players and I are able to react to them quickly and keep the story moving.

Mollie: I am not well versed in the world of D&D so I wanted to start out with a very rules-light system that wouldn't be overly complicated to slow us down for the first campaign. Once Alex told me about the Teens in Space system I knew that's where we should start. It allowed our group to focus more on story and character development as well as silly comedic improv to keep the energy level high. We wanted anyone new to tabletop roleplay games to be able to keep up and stay engaged without slowing down the story.

How did you go about getting your team of players together?

Alex: I wanted people who are local, because I wanted everyone to play in person instead of online. Mollie wanted to test to see if she enjoyed playing the same way I wanted to see if I enjoyed GMing. Ashton is the GM of our weekly D&D game, so I knew he'd be able to give me advice, and I know I like his style of play. Sarah is also in our game, and I've known her as part of the Star Wars community for years. Jeremy works in game design and is a great improviser, and I knew he'd commit to acting silly, making everyone else feel comfortable doing the same. And all three of them know Star Wars well and would be down for any deep cut weirdness Mollie or I threw their way.

Mollie: I knew I wanted to play in our first campaign to get a feel for it and see if I'd like doing more in the future. I think I did okay! Our players are all close friends of ours that we've known for years so we had a natural connection and chemistry which I think really shines through on screen. It's been so fun seeing everyone's various levels of Star Wars knowledge come through in their characters. We have plans to rope in a lot more of our friends for future games who have much more experience playing D&D so they can try rule sets that might be a bit more complicated.

Was there anything you learned from interviewing Star Wars creatives – like, ahem, incredibly witty and charming authors — that influenced Hyperdice?

Alex: Throughout the season I was constantly pulling in my favorite characters, locations, and ideas from Star Wars writers. We just shot a horror one shot for Halloween that was deeply inspired by a certain witty, charming author, and I remember in an interview he once told me the importance of including hope in a horror story set in Star Wars.

Mollie: Over the years we've had the pleasure of chatting with and interviewing so many amazing storytellers in the Star Wars community and being able to pull from their knowledge and experience has been invaluable. I think the most important thing we've learned is how to make something really feel like it belongs in Star Wars and holds on to those same values of hope and community that have existed since the very beginning. There is always more to learn and I'm looking forward to picking the brains of writers going forward!

What was the biggest challenge in getting the actual play off the ground?

Alex: The biggest challenge to making Hyperdice has been learning how to handle recording audio for five people. When it's just Mollie and me, that's pretty easy to handle. But five people laughing and yelling across the table from one another is a different story. We filmed our first episode in June 2025, and it took me over a year to finish editing the entire season. Most of that was audio problems.

Mollie: The biggest challenge for me has been filming and recording the sessions. Alex takes care of most of the story prep so I'm focused on making it all look good and presentable. I come from a photography background and have a tendency to be a perfectionist when it comes to filming, lighting, set design etc...so with our limited space and equipment I've been forced to lower my expectations and use this as a learning experience. After filming this first season I've already found several ways to improve filming and hopefully that will show when our Halloween one-shot game drops in October.

How do you balance making the game fun for the players with making it entertaining for viewers?

Alex: When we're actually filming the game, I don't think about the audience that much. I just focus on making a fun game for the players. I think as long as we're having fun, the viewers will, too. But I do heavily edit the games. I tend to cut about half an hour off of each episode, sometimes more. If we talk in circles or bring up topics or make jokes that don't come up again, I will cut that out. I remove most discussion surrounding rules. I want the actual videos to have a good, fast pace to keep viewers entertained.

Mollie: As a player I'm not as in the know as far as where the story might take us but for this first game we really wanted to just do whatever came natural and count on feedback from the viewers and others in the TTRPG community to help us improve the balance going forward. Like I said before, the hardest part of any project is actually starting it so as long as we got past that part we knew the rest would fall into place.

What's surprised you most since launching the show?

Alex: I think I'm most surprised by how much people are enjoying it. As I was finishing the season I started to question if this would be something people are interested in at all, but we've only put out two episodes and it's been so much fun seeing people's reactions and theories already.

Mollie: The most surprising thing to me has been the response to the chemistry of our player group! It really shouldn't be since we've all been friends for so long but I'm so glad it reads that way in the game. Alex, Ashton and Sarah have all been playing in a separate D&D game while Jeremy and I have never played a campaign together. I'm glad we could all keep up with each other and that people are connecting with our play style. I was worried it would come off too silly and chaotic but so far it seems like the perfect amount. I'm just glad anyone wants to watch since it took us so long to make!

What's the one piece of advice you'd give someone thinking about producing their own actual play?

Alex: Just do it. Learn by doing instead of expecting you can make it perfect immediately. It'll be a struggle learning sometimes, but it will be rewarding and fun.

Mollie: I agree with what Alex said about just starting and not waiting until you think you're ready so I'll add to not over prepare or assume your players will go in the direction you want them to. Alex did so much prep in the beginning but less and less as sessions went on after realizing he can rely more on the players to progress the story in a way that feels natural. Be open to silly side missions that might end up being fan/player favourite moments!

Thanks for the chat, Alex and Mollie. I've been loving the show and especially enjoyed the visit to the Wheel in episode 2, a location I've used in a lot of my stories, even naming the space casino's sport arena after my beloved Bristol City's stadium!

For creatives, I think there's a lot to learn from this answer: "Sometimes you just have to start the project and learn as you go."

Whether it's launching an actual play, writing a novel or creating a comic, there's a point where preparation gets in the way and the only way forward is to jump in with both feet and see what happens!

Hyperdice is live now on YouTube and you can watch episode one by clicking below.

Until next time, look after yourself and each other

WHAT I'M WORKING ON

Thanks to pesky NDAs, I can’t reveal many details about what I’m writing at the moment, so I’ve come up with a sneaky list of project names. Keep an eye on future editions. I'll update everything as the work progresses!

Project: Avarice

• A novelisation for a fantasy franchise, currently in copy edits.

Project: Passer

• A graphic novel adaptation of a top romantasy novel. The outline has been given the greenlight, so I’m currently scripting.

Project: Soldier

• A newly commissioned fantasy novel, currently in outlining mode. 

Konflikt ‘47

• Working with Warlord Game on the lore and creative direction for the weird World War II tabletop game.

Masters of the Universe: Origins

• A three-issue arc chronicling the early career of Man-At-Arms.

COMING SOON 

Star Wars: Scoundrels and Smugglers - Race for Jabba’s Bounty

An all-age graphic novel starring Han Solo, Chewbacca, Jaxxon and a host of scum and villainy. On sale 6th October.

PRE-ORDER SMUGGLERS & SCOUNDRELS

Godfather of Hell

My new creator-owned graphic novel for mature readers. Think Goodfellas meets The Exorcist. On sale 27th October.

PRE-ORDER GODFATHER OF HELL