Not DnD

We first started the show in March 2022! I love speaking to designers and publishers of all sizes about their games. I’m incredibly lucky to get to do this as part of my job, but loving your work and creating projects you are passionate about can make maintaining work-life balance a challenge. So in 2026 the Not DnD podcast will be on a break for the foreseeable future. This will not be the end of...

Twilight Sword  is an adventure role-playing game inspired by classic video-games like The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Ni No Kuni. The game uses an original CAT (Created at Twilight) system. Most actions are resolved by rolling a D12 and rolling equal to or below their relevant ability score. The game also features cooking and brewing mini games, a hope/despair mechanic, and has simple jou...

Branch Riders  is an easy to play narrative driven role playing game built on the concepts of action, investigation, and creative play. In the game you play as Branch Riders, fighting to contain a malevolent force known as the Blight. Your home is the Nexus, which branches out into eight distinct realms. Protecting the realms is a game of battle and subterfuge, foiling the Blight and then returnin...

It’s a huge and dangerous world out there, and it does not look kindly on a small mouse. But if you are very brave and very clever and just a bit lucky, you might be able to survive. And if you survive long enough, you might even become a hero amongst mice. Mauritter is  an ENNIE Gold Winning (Best Family Game 2021) rules light fantasy ttrpg where you play brave little mice. Mausritter features a...

Based on the Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right board game, Root: The RPG brings the tales of the Woodland to your RPG table!   In Root: The RPG, you play vagabonds, outcasts from the normal society of the Woodland who have come to live in the spaces between, whether that's in the forests themselves or on the fringes of society. You are competent and skilled—you have to be to survive as vaga...

Shiver is a setting neutral TTRPG that works as a framework to bring your favourite scary movies, spooky tv shows, and horror stories to life.   Great for one shots, with quick to learn rules and fast character creation. The archetype game system has you matching symbols instead of adding up numbers, and the doom clock mechanic helps GMs build tension throughout the game.   Charlie Menzies from Pa...

Unfortunately this week guest had to cancel, so we have no show this week. But next week we will be back talking about to Parable Games about Shiver. https://www.parablegames.co.uk/products/shiver-core-book  

Enclave is a diceless narrative roleplaying game, but don’t mistake it for being rules light! Storytelling is everything in Enclave; the game is played purely verbally, with common sense and commitment determining success. The game has a range of mechanics that can be used for game masters, however the core mechanics are simple enough to use for a one shot with a new player. Character creation pro...

Not DnD  is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. In September we are looking at tabletop RPGs for a sci-fi setting! Traveller is a long-beloved science fiction roleplaying game first published in 1977. The game has had several editions published over it's almost 50 year history, including GURPS and d20. It's difficult to discuss sci-fi ttrpgs without mentioning this iconic game. Th...

Astra Arcanum is a new Sci-Fi Tabletop RPG from ENNIE winning studio with deep tactical combat, a massive character creation suite, and a vast setting to explore. The game had a hugely  successful kickstarter  in June 2025, and is now in development with a planned delivery of December 2026. This week we’re talking to Sarp Duyar (Producer) and Tyler Dennison (Lead Writer) from Metis Media about the...

Not DnD  is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. In September we are looking at tabletop RPGs for a sci-fi setting! Blue Planet was originally published over 25 years ago. The TTRPG received broad acclaim for its deep, detailed, and realistic setting, presenting a precarious future threatened by the dire consequences of ecological collapse. Issues like biodiversity loss, ocean acid...

Throughout September we are looking at tabletop RPGs for a sci-fi setting on Not DnD. This week  Bryan Donihue  will join us on Not DnD to talk about  Fizanthra's Guide to the Fringe  which provides a sci-fi setting for  The Hidden Worlds Refined Core  setting. Hidden Worlds is a single d20-based game with skill-based mechanics and story-based advancement for characters. An open magic system and q...

In August we are looking at tabletop RPGs with culinary themes.   Story Bake  is a TTRPG about the magic of baking, the power of friendship, and finding wonder in the world! The creator Dan is a professional baker and combines their love of baking and games with Story Bake, and will share their story with us today on a live recording.   The game comes with a full set of baker and bakery sheets, an...

Using an original RPG system,  Ready Set Bake  is ideal for roping in family members and friends who aren't familiar with RPGs but love baking and cooking shows.   This week we’ll be speaking to Jaye and Dave Eisinger to find out more about this GBBO-inspired mini-RPG. The game has recipe challenges, secret ballot voting, and a guided mad-lib recipe generator.   In this episode we'll also be talki...

Not DnD  is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. Each week EN Publishing’s  @tabletopjess  interviews the creators behind different tabletop roleplaying games that aren’t D&D! You can watch the live recording every Monday at 5pm ET / 10pm BST on  YouTube  or  Twitch , or listen on the podcast platform of your choice. In August we are looking at tabletop RPGs with culinary theme...

Today on Not DnD we are looking at  SHIFT,  a new game system from Hit Point Press. The system is centred around traits and a Shift dice mechanic, which allow the GM and players to collaboratively world build as part of gameplay.   There are options rules which allow you to adjust the complexity of the game and customise it to your needs, but the core rule offer simple and fast gameplay. Join us l...

First released in 2008, Five By Five is a rule lite ttrpg using d6 powered by the h5 (high-five) mechanic. You roll two d6 dice and multiple the numbers on both die (for example role a 4 and a 2, your result is 8). The game has a simple core mechanic, but also robust rules for character creation, task resolution, combat and character advancement. Find out more as we speak to Jeff Moore on this wee...

First Encounter is a rules-lite fantasy RPG designed to be played with minimal setup, zero preparation and a Kobold's hoard of generic fantasy tropes.   Play as a party of intrepid (maybe slightly trepid?) Creaturefolk, defending your homes from the ever-expanding Venture Town and the wicked Enpecies (NPCs) who dwell within it. Worse yet, they have called in the most dangerous of all known fantasy...

Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. Each week EN World’s Jessica Hancock  interviews the creators behind different tabletop roleplaying games that aren’t D&D! Throughout July 2025 we are looking at TTRPGs with accessible mechanics. Sometimes learning a new ttrpg can feel like a chore, or a difficult task. These games look to remove that barrier as much as possible....

In Galactic & Going Rogue you play rebels, soldiers, spies, and criminals, or perhaps someone who simply picked up and blaster and said "enough is enough." A GM less game for 2-6 players which takes inspiration from Galactic, Rogue One, and Andor.   Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/galacticgoingrogue/galactic-and-going-rogue-two-ttrpgs-of-war-among-the-stars?ref=9o21i2   Websi...

Midnight Muscadines is a cozy-dark tabletop roleplaying game where light and shadow intertwine in a fractured world. Players take on the roles of Marmateers—brave adventurers who venture into the untamed Wildernight to collect the elusive Midnight Muscadines, craft magical jams, and protect the fragile light of Nimm.   The games comes with a variety of play modes; solo, duet, GM’less and GM-led. P...

‘I Could Do This In My Sleep’ is a cyberpunk entry to DriveThruRPG’s 2025 PocketQuest game jam. Powered by a simple yet flexible character skill system, I Could Do This In My Sleep suits a group of 2 - 4 players and one game master. A modern-day cyberpunk tabletop roleplaying game where Cybernetic implants keep the masses of Great Britain on their feet and working 16 hours a day, dead to the world...

Take on xenophobic separatists, cut throat criminals, lethal machines, and otherworldly predators as you strive for a better future together on the Frontier.   Changed Stars  is a sci-fi roleplaying game set in a bright-yet-perilous future. Inspired by utopian feminist science fiction and contemporary gritty speculative futures, Changed Stars presents a modern-take on a post-patriarchal society fo...

Frostpunk, the Tabletop Roleplaying Game based on the award-winning Frostpunk video games   The cold is unrelenting. It's been ten years since the end of the world. Cities depend on massive generators that provide heat, and machinery that excavates resources and grows food. Humans scramble to survive, relying on the pillars of Faith and Order to build societies that can keep residents alive despit...

In May, Not DnD is looking to the future. Some visions are frozen, some dark and dystopian, but others feature a rehabilitated vision of humanity. Join us as we look forward in time. Frostpunk Changed Stars I Could Do This In My Sleep