Ludonarrative Dissidents

Cyberpunk RED is the latest edition of the dystopian sci-fi RPG series originally created by Mike Pondsmith. Set in 2045 after a major war, characters in Cyberpunk RED can pull off jobs for secretive clients, roam the wastelands, or reclaim them. It contains everything needed to play.Full Show Notes are available here!⁠Discuss this episode on our Discord server!

James went on vacation to Pompeii, so he's sharing his photos and discussing ancient Roman history. If you want to see the video version with the photos, it's on Youtube. Discuss this episode on our Discord server!

The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues is a 48-page adventure for the Paranoia RPG. It was written by John M. Ford, published by West End Games in 1985, and is generally regarded as one of the classic adventures for the game, and a milestone in the development of comedy in RPGs. It was re-released in 2017 for the rebooted edition of Paranoia that was co-designed by James Wallis, Grant Howitt and Paul Dean, and I swear that's the first I've ever heard of that version, though it seems to be the only form in which TYCBBB is commercially available right now. $29.99 for a 48-page PDF from 1985. Read the Full Show Notes hereDiscuss the episode on our Discord!

THIS EPISODE COVERS DOGS IN THE VINEYARD, a 2004 game by Vincent Baker, who is better known as the co-designer of Apocalypse World, the game that the entire Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) RPG design movement is based on. Dogs in the Vineyard is no longer available for sale, for reasons that we discuss in the episode.“Mormon Judge Dredd” – Greg StolzeRead the Full Show Notes HereSee the Wikipedia entry for Dogs in the VineyardSee Vincent Baker's homepageTalk about this on the LND Discord!Today's episode is brought to you by the Tabletop Arts Fund! The Tabletop Arts Fund is a community nonprofit dedicated to supporting independent TTRPG and actual play creators through professional development, networking opportunities, and charitable grants. Are you an independent creator with a game or scenario nearing the finish line? Submissions open February 15th for the first round of TTRPG Creator Grants, providing financial support for art, editing, layout, and other professional services. Full details on these and other projects are available at tabletopartsfund.org, or via social media at tabletopartsfund.org.

Our latest livestream! Greg talks about his new fantasy serial and we discuss zines, crowdfunding, and more! Watch it here if you want to see the visuals.Discuss it on the LND discord!

GROGS is a supplement for Ars Magica 5th edition, edited by longtime ArM line-editor David Chart, released in 2012 and still in print. Ars Magica is a roleplaying game of a community of wizards in a medieval world where magic is rare and feared by the general populace. This supplement presents systems and advice for expanding multi-character ‘troupe play', a core concept of Ars Magica. Read the full show notes on our website! We explored Ars Magica way back in season 1, episode 9. It's an important game in the history of RPGs, co-designed by Mark Rein*Hagen who went on to create Vampire: the Masquerade, and Jonathan Tweet who was lead designer on Dungeons & Dragons 3e. Click here to see Grogs on DriveThruRPG Click here to see Ars Magica 5th edition on DriveThruRPG This episode is brought to you by Laszlo Szidonya, who wants a shout out to his friend and longtime GM Aron Peterfy. We are enormously grateful to Laszlo (and Aron), and everyone else whose generosity helps to keep the podcast running. ⁠Please join our Discord server to discuss this episode! 

We're discussing European RPGs, especially the new wave of Italian games like Outgunned, plus action cinema and more. Watch this episode on Youtube. Discuss it on our Discord.

This episode covers the roleplaying game VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE 5th edition, developed by Kenneth Hite and Karim Muammar, published in 2018 by White Wolf Entertainment in association with Paradox Entertainment and Free League. The original Vampire: The Masquerade was designed by Mark Rein•Hagen and released by White Wolf Publishing in 1991. It dominated the RPG hobby in the 1990s and remains one of the biggest RPGs of all time. Click here to see Vampire: the Masquerade 5th edition at DriveThruRPGClick here to see the original 1991 Vampire:the Masquerade, which we also discuss and which is still on sale for a paltry $9.99. Read the full show notes on our website It's a fascinating read for anyone who wants to experience the origins of the World of Darkness. “It would have been like kicking a tiny puppy in a tiny corset” – Greg Please join our Discord server to discuss this episode! 

Ross talks about RPGs in Japan and other things he encountered during his vacation there. James talks about Mappa Mundi, an upcoming exploration RPG and more! Watch it on Youtube to see the photos Ross shared and more!

Alien: Chariot of the Gods is an introductory/one-shot adventure for Free League's Alien RPG, written by Andrew E. C. Gaska and set in the universe of most of the Alien/Aliens movies. It was published in 2019. READ THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE Click here to see the Alien RPG on the Free League website Click here to see the Alien RPG on DriveThruRPG Click here to see the Alien: Chariot of the Gods adventure on DriveThruRPG This episode is brought to you with support from Brent, one of our Kickstarter backers, who wanted to give a shout-out to his Youtube channel @Rolewise. Thanks, Brent! ⁠Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!

Our livestream for October. Watch it on Youtube to see what we're talking about.

James Bond 007: Roleplaying In Her Majesty's Secret Service was designed by Gerard Christopher Klug (known as Chris Klug these days) with development by Greg Gordon and Neil Randall, and was released by Victory Games between 1983 and 1987, selling over 100,000 copies. It is long out of print but available on the second-hand market at reasonable prices (as I write Noble Knight lists it at under $15 for the core rules) though the supplements are usually 200-500% more. This episode was made possible by our patron and friend Christian Bickle, who chose the game for us to cover. Huge thanks go out to him for letting us create a really fun episode. Full show notes are available here ⁠Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!⁠ ⁠Intro music by Arcane Anthems

Click here to read the full show notes! Night's Black Agents: Double Tap is a ‘gear book' from 2013, a collection of new equipment, background and game material for GM and players, written by Ken Hite and several others. It's an expansion for Night's Black Agents, an RPG of modern tactical espionage and vampires, also written by Ken Hite and published by Pelgrane Press in 2011. It's a really interesting book whether you play NBA or not, and we think you'll enjoy our far-ranging discussion of it and the issues it raises. Click here to see NBA: Double Tap on DriveThruRPGClick here to see the Night's Black Agents RPG on DriveThruRPG

Our livestream for September. If you want to see the visuals, watch it on Youtube.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE) was designed and written by Shane Lacy Hensley with Clint Black, and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 2023. It's a generic rules system of cinematic action with a historied pedigree and an amazing range of sourcebooks, but how does it fare against more rules-y games like GURPS or narrativist darlings like FATE? We take it apart to see what keeps its motor running, mechanically and stylistically, then put it back together to discuss how that affects play.  As noted at the end of the episode, Greg and James were given PDF copies of the game by PEG and we are properly grateful for that. Click here to see Savage Worlds: Adventure Edition on DriveThruRPG Click here for Episode 3 full show notes ⁠⁠Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Intro music by Arcane Anthems

We're talking about Gencon 2024 and new trends in games. Watch the livestream here for the visuals.

Delta Green: Convergence is a short adventure for the Delta Green RPG. Originally written by John Scott Tynes and published by Pagan Publishing in 1992, it is the first adventure ever set in the Delta Green universe, the original source, the motherlode, the primal zygote. In this episode of Ludonarrative Dissidents we are discussing the slightly updated edition released by Arc Dream Publishing in 2023. ⁠Click here to see Delta Green Convergence on DriveThruRPG FULL SHOW NOTES ARE AVAILABLE HERE ⁠Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!⁠ ⁠Intro music by Arcane Anthems

Heart: The City Beneath is a game of unconventional fantasy adventurers who are drawn to enter, explore and lose themselves in a very corporeal underworld beneath the city of Spire. They'll face horrific foes, bizarre locations and a mysterious and eldritch subway system. It's from the same designers and publisher as Spire, it's an indie darling, but what will the Ludonarrative Dissidents make of it? Will they locate the life-ending revelation they seek in its fleshy realms? Will Heart find a place in their ribcages, or turn them into a big ol' train? Heart: The City Beneath at DriveThruRPG Heart: The City Beneath at Rowan, Rook & Decard FULL SHOW NOTES ARE AVAILABLE HERE Discuss this episode on the LND Discord! Intro music by Arcane Anthems

Greg has an idea for a build a bag mechanic for a RPG, so James and I discuss some options for it. We look at board games that use this mechanic and how the mechanic could work.

We're discussing Choose Your Own Adventure, Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, and other similar game books. This is an audio version of this Youtube livestream, if you want to see the visuals.

In this livestream, we reveal the topics for season 3! If you have questions about them, ask on our Discord. You can watch the livestream here.

Our Kickstarter for Season 3 is doing well but we have a long way to go! We livestreamed on March 10, which you can view here on Youtube, but this episode has cleaned up audio. We're looking at the free adventure released by NASA, The Lost Universe. We dive deep into it and answer viewer questions.

The Kickstarter is live! Back it today so we can have a full season of great episodes! The Lady in Blue, a mysterious figure of cosmic power, enlists a band of simple peasants for a strange task. They are to follow an invisible bridge until they arrive at a hole in the sky – and then jump through. Death awaits all but the bravest, strongest, and luckiest, but the Lady offers a reward beyond all the riches of the world: the chance to change the very stars these peasants were born under, and thus change their destiny. We're reviewing our first adventure for this season! We played it as the finale of last season and now you can hear what we think of the adventure as a published scenario.

We're back with more info on season 3 and here to talk about RPGs. https://www.ludonarrativedissidents.com/

We livestreamed back in December to update listeners about Season 3 and answer questions about RPGs. You can watch it on Youtube or just listen to it here. Enjoy!

The Lady in Blue, a mysterious figure of cosmic power, enlists a band of simple peasants for a strange task. They are to follow an invisible bridge until they arrive at a hole in the sky – and then jump through. Death awaits all but the bravest, strongest, and luckiest, but the Lady offers a reward beyond all the riches of the world: the chance to change the very stars these peasants were born under, and thus change their destiny. NEWS: On Saturday December 16th, at 23:00 UTC (18:00 EST, 17:00 Central) Greg, James, go live for an hour of discussion, conversation, and answering your questions. RPPR on Twitch RPPR Streaming on Youtube If you miss the livestream, the Youtube version will stay up afterwards. We are planning an episode 0 of season 3 to discuss this adventure so stay tuned for that! Get full show notes at our website! Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!

Pendragon is a game of Arthurian legends, first released in 1985. The sixth edition starter set was released in 2023, with a full released plan next year. It is set in a world of brutal medieval realism. Player characters are knights in King Arthur's court, striving to uphold the code of chivalry despite their passions and flaws pulling them in other directions. The starter set contains pre-made knight player characters, several adventures, and all the rules necessary to run the game.  Get full show notes at our website! Discuss this episode on the LND Discord! Our next episode is the season finale, an actual play in Dungeon Crawl Classics with two guest players!

Traveller is a science fiction roleplaying game of bold explorers and brave adventurers. The Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 contains everything you need to create one of these adventures and begin exploring the galaxy. Spaceports, ancient civilisations, air/rafts, cold steel blades, laser carbines, far distant worlds, and exotic alien beasts – this is the futuristic universe of Traveller, the original and classic science fiction roleplaying game. Get full show notes at our website! Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!

Experience Points are a common game mechanic in tabletop role playing games, but what are they? From Dungeons and Dragons to the World of Darkness, a wide variety of games use experience points to measure character progression and improvement. We discuss how these mechanics affect play and brainstorm ideas for alternative progression systems. Check out The Night Clerk, a RPG scenario zine, written by Ross Payton, now on Backerkit! Get full show notes at our website! Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!

Fiasco is an award-winning, GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with no preparation. During a game you engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It's like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it'd take to watch one. Tell cinematic tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong – inspired by films like Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, and A Simple Plan. You play ordinary people with powerful ambition and poor impulse control. Listen to an actual play of Fiasco 2E guest starring Caleb Stokes, author of Red Markets! Get full show notes on our website! Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!

Diceless RPGs are games that do not use dice to randomize game elements. Many of these games do not have any randomization elements and include games like Amber, Pantheon, and Marvel Universe. Others use randomizers like shuffled cards or spinners. We discuss these systems and how they affect game play and storytelling. Check out the LND website for links to games and more! Discuss this episode on the LND Discord!

The landscape was full of machines and scrap metal connected to the facility in one way or another. Always present on the horizon were the colossal cooling towers, with their green obstruction lights. If you put your ear to the ground, you could hear the heartbeat of the Loop – the purring of the Gravitron, the central piece of engineering magic that was the focus of the Loop's experiments. The facility was the largest of its kind in the world, and it was said that its forces could bend space-time itself. Scifi artist Simon Stålenhag's paintings of Swedish 1980s suburbia, populated by fantastic machines and strange beasts, have won global acclaim. Now, you can step into the amazing world of the Loop. Show notes for Season 2 are on the LND website. Discuss this episode on the Ludonarrative Dissidents Community Discord!

Dread is a game of horror and hope. Those who play will participate in a mutual telling of an original macabre tale. The goal of Dread is to sustain the delicate atmosphere that invokes the hand quivering emotion that lends its name to the game. The thrill of a Dread game lies within the tension between desire and loss. Players take on the role of someone trapped in a story that is only as compelling as it is hostile. Discuss this episode on the Ludonarrative Dissidents Community Discord!

Planet Mercenary RPG is a space opera adventure game based on the popular web comic Schlock Mercenary. It contains everything you need to create characters, equip them, and load them onto warships for adventures across the galaxy. Build your own mercenary company and accept all the best contracts. Rescue ecotourists from Eina Afa's Stormring Sea. Leap between the Pereri Ring's tethered asteroids in pursuit of pirates. Brave the dark heart of Ellwor's mechorganic jungle in search of the Greater Meatsnatch. Engineered for speed and simplicity, the Planet Mercenary RPG lets you play out these adventures quickly with three six-sided dice and the 108-card Mayhem deck—a set of story-building, plot-twisting, occasionally explosive elements that can transform even a mundane encounter into a turning point for the entire mission. You and your group will weave magnificent, raucous, and probably hilarious adventure stories, and everyone will enjoy themselves …even when things go terribly wrong. Discuss this episode on the Ludonarrative Dissidents Community Discord!

Call of Cthulhu is the world's best game of secrets, mysteries, and horror, first published in 1981 and now in its seventh edition. Playing the role of steadfast investigators, you travel to strange and dangerous places, uncover foul plots, and stand against the terrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. You encounter sanity-blasting entities, monsters, and insane cultists. Within strange and forgotten tomes of lore you discover revelations that humanity was not meant to know. If you want to discuss the episode, join our community Discord! 

Initiative systems are an important but often overlooked element in role playing games. They determine who can act and when. They allocate spotlight time for players and influences the action economy of a game. We talk about different ways of determining initiative and if you even need them.

Eclipse Phase is the post-apocalyptic game of transhuman horror. Humanity is enhanced and improved, but also battered and bitterly divided. Technology allows the re-shaping of bodies and minds, but also creates opportunities for oppression and puts the capability for mass destruction in the hands of everyone. And other threats lurk in the devastated habitats of the Fall, dangers both familiar and alien. In this harsh setting, the players participate in a cross-faction conspiracy called Firewall that seeks to protect transhumanity from threats both internal and external. Discuss this episode in our Discord!

MÖRK BORG is a pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy RPG about lost souls and fools seeking redemption, forgiveness or the last remaining riches in a bleak and dying world. Who are you? The tomb-robber with silver glittering between cracked fingernails? The mystic who would bend the world's heart away from it's inevitable end? Confront power-draining necromancers, skulking skeletal warriors and backstabbing wickheads. Wander the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead, the catacombs beneath the Bergen Chrypt or the bedevilled Sarkash forest. But leave hope behind – the world's cruel fate is sealed, and all your vain heroic efforts are destined to end in death and dismay. It was created by Pelle Nilsson and Johan Nohr. Discuss this episode on our community Discord server!

The Laundry Files Roleplaying Game is based on the best-selling novels by Charles Stross. In the game, you play officers of the Laundry, that eccentric and underfunded agency dedicated to protecting the United Kingdom from unthinkable horrors. The Laundry uses the Basic Roleplaying System - the same system that powers the classic Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game (so you can easily convert adventures from one game to the other). As Laundry staff, you're trained to deal with the weird and ghastly spawn of the Mythos, you're equipped with the best equipment your committee-approved mission budget can buy, and you've got back-up on call from the SAS. All of that means you're only terrifyingly underprepared, as opposed to completely screwed, when the shoggoth hits the fan. If you want to discuss this episode, join our community Discord server!

Meta currencies are a type of game mechanic found in tabletop role playing games. They are an abstract resource used by players to affect the narrative but do not represent something in the game except luck, fate, or willpower and so forth. Examples include fate points in Fate, willpower in Red Markets, and Resolve in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. We discuss types of mechanics and why they are used in RPGs. Discuss this episode on our community Discord server!

Red Markets is a tabletop RPG about economic horror. In Red Markets, characters risk their lives trading between the massive quarantine zones containing a zombie outbreak and the remains of civilization. They are Takers: mercenary entrepreneurs unwilling to accept their abandonment. Bound together into competing crews, each seeks to profit from mankind's near-extinction before it claims them. They must hustle, scheme, and scam as hard as they fight if they hope to survive the competing factions and undead hordes the GM throws at them. Takers that are quick, clever, or brutal enough might live to see retirement in a safe zone, but many discover too late that the cycle of poverty proves harder to escape than the hordes of undead. If you'd like to discuss this episode, please join our community Discord server.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition is a game set in the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy. Dating back to 1986, WFRP is a celebrated British RPG about living in a detailed setting loosely inspired by the decline of the Holy Roman Empire. Players take on the roles of common folk who have uncommon destined fates, investigating chaos cults, surviving deadly monsters, and trying to scrape by in a grim and dark world. The current edition adds new mechanics to the game while retaining much of its old system.

Coyote and Crow is a tabletop role playing game set in an alternate future of the Americas where colonization never occurred. Instead, advanced civilizations arose over hundreds of years after a massive climate disaster changed the history of the planet. You'll play as adventurers starting out in the city of Cahokia, a bustling, diverse metropolis along the Mississippi River. It's a world of science and spirituality where the future of technology and legends of the past will collide.

Many RPGs use cards in their mechanics, from playing cards to Tarot to custom decks of cards. We discuss some of these games, the types of mechanics we've seen and the history of card-based games. If you enjoy this episode, back our Kickstarter for Season 2 of Ludonarrative Dissidents. This podcast is only possible with the help of backers and this time we'll have a private RSS feed for early access to all episodes, plus other great rewards! Some of the games mentioned in this episode Everway The Mystery Creature of Claytonsville Whimsy cards Aces and Eights Savage Worlds Lace and Steel Upwind Best Friends The Beast Conspiracy X Zener cards The Mind

Greg Stolze's procedurally generated game puts you in the corrupt, dissolute city-state of Vindamere, but don't worry. You play the best people there, spoiled children of privilege with nothing better to do than pursue swordplay, flirt outrageously, and snack on delicious vol-au-vents. A single game session covers the social year from Ye Midwinter Balle through the prestigious Alle-Valley Fencinge Championeshippe. Your louche elite blade-swanks fall in love, brawl, sneer and engage in truly petty social rivalries. Learn more about Dueling Fops of Vindamere. We'll have an episode zero of Season 2 on this podcast when we launch the Kickstarter. We'll be previewing a new type of episode where discuss a common type of game mechanic found in many RPGs. Which mechanic? You'll have to stay subscribed to find out. See you at the Kickstarter!

Base Raiders is a Fate powered superhero RPG about dungeon crawling in abandoned villain and hero bases. Characters find super power sources in bases or buy them from the black market. It was written by Ross Payton and published in 2014. Buy Base Raiders here. Our season 1 finale, an actual play of Dueling Fops of VIndamere, is coming next week. After that, our Kickstarter for Season 2! Stay tuned!

The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen by James Wallis is a humorous and competitive storytelling game of telling tall tales. During the game, each player must tell a story, while the other players attempt to interject and stage interruptions or distractions. The player with the best story at the end of the game is the winner. Our next episode will look at Base Raiders, a Fate powered superhero game about dungeon crawling in abandoned bases. After that, our final episode for season 1 will be an actual play of Dueling Fops of Vindamere. We hope to launch a crowdfunding campaign for season 2 this year, so stay tuned!

Unknown Armies is a modern horror RPG that presents magick as it might exist in a world informed by crime fiction and secret histories, as twisting wrinkles in reality created by greater and greater risk, sacrifice, and obsession. It was created by Greg Stolze and John Tynes.

13th Age is a d20 fantasy role playing game designed for "experienced Gamemasters and players of all experience levels." It features several new mechanics and character class designs unique to it, like the Icon system and One Unique Thing. It was written by D&D designers Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet.

In Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings you chronicle the many centuries of a vampire's existence, beginning with the loss of mortality and ending with inevitable destruction. Prompt-driven play and simple resource tracking provide easy rules for exploring your character's human failings, villainous acts, and surprising victories.

The Quiet Year is a storytelling game from Avery Alder about map-making and building a community after the apocalypse. "You define the struggles of a community living after the collapse of civilization, and attempt to build something good within their quiet year. Every decision and every action is set against a backdrop of dwindling time and rising concern."