# Obsidian's Josh Sawyer's Thoughts on Creating Engaging RPGs

An episode of [Game Maker's Notebook](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1313004515), 17 Nov 2025, 1 h 09 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/interactive/JOSH_SAWYER_GMN_.mp3?dest-id=590891

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Josh Sawyer, Studio Design Director at Obsidian Entertainment. Together they discuss his thoughts on developing RPGs; what he learned from working at legendary studio Black Isle Studios; how to successfully adapt Dungeons & Dragons to video games; writing for games with dialogue stacks; parsing and implementing feedback while keeping true to your creative vision; and balancing RNG to improve player experiences. This episode is supported by Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

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