This single-session OSR adventure by Brendan Lasalle was played by the Ludonarrative Dissidents crew and guests in the last episode of season 2. But what did we really think of it? How faithful is it to the spirit of the ‘classics’ it invokes? Is there a dungeon or, for that matter, much crawling? Only one way to find out!
Click the episode title to go to the recording and extensive show notes.

Heart: The City Beneath by Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor 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 an eldritch subway system, plus bees. It’s from the same designers and publisher as Spire, it’s an award-winning 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 inside their ribcages, or just turn them into a big ol’ train?
Click the episode title above to listen to this episode and read the show notes.

Delta Green: Convergence was the very first adventure set in the world of Delta Green, written by John Tynes and published by Pagan Publishing in 1992. The LND team are reviewing an updated but substantially similar version released by Arc Dream in 2023. How has this foundation-stone of modern Lovecraftian horror stood the test of time? Is it still the best portal for new players to enter the desperate world of Delta Green operatives? What will noted not-a-horror-gamer James make of it all? Dare you find out?
Click the episode title above to listen to this episode and read the show notes.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE) is 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. Along the way Greg fails a SAN roll and is reduced to helpless laughter–but which member of the team is capable of such a thing?
Click the episode title above to listen to this episode and read the show notes.

Alien is not the first RPG licensed from Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s genre-defining SF action-horror movies, but it’s the first since Scott rewrote the canon with Prometheus and Covenant. Chariot of the Gods is an introductory adventure for the RPG and its universe, and like the later Scott movies it’s a fascinating mix of good stuff and not-so-good stuff. We rip it apart to see how acid this newcomer’s blood is.

Click the episode title above to listen to this episode and read the show notes.

Vampire: the Masquerade changed the face of the RPG industry when it was released in 1991, but that was a third-century ago. It may have had reboots and multiple new editions, but is it looking (and we apologise for this) long in the tooth? 

Ars Magica allows players to have multiple PCs, including lower-ranking members of the Covenant, who exist in a pool of NPCs when not being played – ‘troupe play’. The Grogs supplement explores and expands them, and how they can be used, in a way that GMs of all systems will find fascinating. 

Back in 1988 Cyberpunk was a brain-melter: a game that combined near-future tech and urban paranoia with a slick cool that was completely new to RPGs. It created a whole new genre overnight. Almost forty years on and a $450m video game later, how’s the newest edition looking?

Right now this episode is only available to our Kickstarter backers. It will be available to the public soon, so please follow us on social media for updates. 

One of our Kickstarter stretch goals was a series of regular livestreams, which are going out monthly. The dates of future sessions are publicised on the LND Discord, and past sessions are all archived on Spotify.

March 2024 – The LND Kickstarter, plus the D&D adventure that NASA published

 

April 2024 – Season 3 episode list reveal: all 27 games and books we’ll be covering over this season 

 

May 2024 – Choose Your Own Adventure and other solo gamebooks

June 2024 – Superhero RPGs and build-a-bag mechanics

July 2024 – no episode, on our holibobs

August 2024 – Gen Con wrap-up, conventions generally, and new trends in game design

September 2024 –  James’s Game Design Masterclass, Greg’s fiction, how to support independent creatives, The Terror, Kaos, Pluto, Scavenger’s Reign, the Superbabes RPG, Stardust the Super Wizard, the Fall of Delta Green, why the .io domain is a bad thing, and more! And Spotify has changed its embed link back to an ugly blocky box, sorry about that. 

October 2024 – We grapple with new streaming software, plus coverage of the biggest tabletop show in the world Spiel Essen; the cast’s favourite novels; the Salvage Union RPG; junk robots; Horse Girl, and more. There is also a version with video that you can find on Youtube, which will at least explain what Meeps looks like.

December 2024 – Ross went to Japan. Sumo! Giant robots! Eating things! An entire town of scarecrows! An unsurprising amount of Japanese RPG stuff! Plus we talk about the forthcoming Mappa Mundi, an ‘exploration and ecology’ RPG.

January 2025 – Waiting for Gregot. Ross and James are talking about the RPG scene in Europe, specifically Outgunned but jumping off to discuss what makes European games different to American and British ones, and what’s worth checking out. Also, JCVD. Will Greg turn up before the end of the livestream? Only one way for you to know. (Linking to Youtube, as Spotify insists on changing our embedded links to previews, not the full player.)

February 2025 – Discussing things we’re working on, Zine Month and the importance of zines to the history of the games industry, the new edition of Red Markets, and new projects from Avery Alder and Vincent and Meguey Baker. (Linking to Youtube, as Spotify insists on changing our embedded links to previews, not the full player.)

 

The date of the next livestream will be announced on social media and the Ludonarrative Dissidents Discord, where you can also find more information, suggest topics and join in with the chat – it’s open to all, and it’ll be great to see you.