646: Hard Code & Soft Skills

What It Covers

Shop Talk Show hosts play Hard Code & Soft Skills, a tabletop RPG about startup employees defending their company Raptor from AI clown robots and investor takeover while CEO Chad recovers in a napping pod.

Key Questions Answered

• •Game mechanics design: Hard Code & Soft Skills uses a single stat (2-5) determining technical versus interpersonal skills, where rolling under your number succeeds for technical actions and rolling over succeeds for soft skills, creating tension between specializations.
• •Collaborative storytelling structure: Players build company strengths (stealth mode, engineering excellence) and weaknesses (single napping pod, burn rate) before gameplay, establishing shared narrative constraints that drive conflict and decision-making throughout the session.
• •Critical success rewards: Rolling exactly your stat number triggers 10x mode, granting players ability to ask the game master any question about the scenario, providing strategic information like security vulnerabilities or character motivations that advance the plot.
• •Dice pool expansion tactics: Players earn additional dice through three methods: claiming expert knowledge in relevant skills, demonstrating prior preparation for situations, or assisting teammates with successful support rolls that transfer dice to the primary actor.
• •Workplace satire framework: The game parodies startup culture through absurdist scenarios (trolley problems with coworkers, cyber ducks, Bitcoin moon schemes) while maintaining recognizable tech industry tropes like password sharing, AB testing obsession, and perpetual bug reporting.