Ludonarrative Dissidents

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