Ludonarrative Dissidents

Our livestream for September 2025! Watch it on Youtube. Discuss this episode on our Discord.

Trabajo (Hebanon Games, 2019) is a 32-page ‘portfolio’, part sourcebook and part adventure pack, for the Red Markets post-apocalypse RPG of economic and undead horror, written by Ludonarrative Dissidents’ own Ross Payton. We analysed Red Markets last season and liked it a lot, as you can imagine, and this episode is an opportunity to hear more about how it looks in action, and get Ross’s insights...

Brindlewood Bay  is a tabletop roleplaying game that combines  Murder, She Wrote  with H.P. Lovecraft. In it, you play a group of elderly women, members of the local Murder Mavens Mystery Book Club, who help the authorities solve murder cases in a picturesque New England Town. Read the show notes here Discuss this episode on our Discord.

JAILBREAK is a one-session scenario for Unknown Armies , originally written by Greg Stolze of this parish, in 1998 as a demo adventure for conventions, and subsequently published in the One Shots adventure anthology. It has since been described as one of the great horror adventures for any RPG. Greg is, of course, one of the creators of Unknown Armies , along with John Tynes, and his insights here...

Our livestream for July! We talk about Gencon, the Ennies, and we get a surprise visit! Watch the episode here on Youtube if you want to see the visuals. Discuss this episode on our Discord.

RIFTS is a role playing game designed by Kevin Siembieda and originally published by his company Palladium Books in 1990. In this episode we examine the Rifts Ultimate Edition from 2005, a revised and expanded version of the original game rulebook. Like it, hate it or previously unaware of it, there’s nothing like it on the market today and we enjoyed the chance to delve into what makes it work. R...

BLACK CHROME IS A 2023 gearbook for the Cyberpunk Red roleplaying game, written by James Hutt, Jay Parker, Turbo, J Gray, Anne Morrison, Chris Spivey, Fran Stewart, and Linda M Evans, and published by R Talsorian Games. Read the Wikipedia entry for the Cyberpunk RPG Read about Black Chrome on DriveThruRPG See the Cyberpunk Red rulebook on DriveThruRPG Read the full Show Notes on the LND website ⁠D...

We talk a bit about conventions - Greg visited a small con called Forge Midwest and Ross prepares for Gencon this year with 7 events. We also answer audience questions. Watch the livestream if you want to see the visuals. ⁠⁠Discuss this episode on our Discord server!

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 Pau...

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 Stolze Read the Full Show Notes Here See the Wiki...

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...

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...

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 adv...

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...

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 inte...

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...

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...