Ludonarrative Dissidents

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.Read the full show notes here.See the original Rifts rulebook at DriveThruRPGSee the Rifts Ultimate Edition at DriveThruRPG. We can’t speak for other Rifts PDFs but this PDF is a scan of the print book, every page is an image, the text is not searchable, there is no indexing or bookmarking. It’s like an artefact from a more primitive time.See the Rifts game-line at the Palladium Books websiteSee Savage Rifts at DriveThruRPG

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 RPGRead about Black Chrome on DriveThruRPGSee the Cyberpunk Red rulebook on DriveThruRPGRead the full Show Notes on the LND website⁠Discuss this episode on our Discord server!

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 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.