Podcast
Ludonarrative Dissidents
Hosted by Ross Payton · EN
Ludonarrative Dissidents is a podcast from Greg Stolze, James Wallis, and Ross Payton to explore and analyze tabletop RPGs. What does each game do, how does it work, and why do people play it? We are currently in season 3, and we've expanded to include sourcebooks and adventures. Visit our website at https://www.ludonarrativedissidents.com/ to get detailed show notes. Join our Discord at https://discord.gg/CQt5DbFZCD
11episodes
Episodes
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Swords of the Serpentine
Jul 201:09:01Tap to summarizeSWORDS OF THE SERPENTINE is a game of fantasy shenanigans in a labyrinthine sinking city populated by rogues, schemers, cultists, swashbucklers and your player characters, written by Kevin Kulp and Emily Dresner, and published by Pelgrane Press in 2022. It uses a variation of the Gumshoe system originally created by Robin D. Laws in 2007. Swords of the Serpentine at Pelgrane PressSwords of the Serpentine at DriveThruRPGFull show notes are hereDiscuss this episode on our Discord.
Transcribe →Ludonarrative Dissidents Livestream for June 2026
Jun 2301:02:42Tap to summarizeOur livestream discussion for June!Watch the episode on YoutubeDiscuss this episode on our Discord.
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Chicago by Night: Vampire the Masquerade 5th Edition
May 2900:57:24Tap to summarizeCHICAGO BY NIGHT is a 2018 city sourcebook for Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition, written by Matthew Dawkins and a host of others, and published by Renegade Game Studios, who have the rights to do all this stuff these days. The most recent iteration of a sourcebook that first appeared in 1991, this edition is by far the longest at 357 pages. It describes the vampire culture, clans, people, locations, backstory and subterfuges of the eponymous city. (‘Eponymous’, because I always have to check, means ‘lending its name to’ a thing, not ‘taking its name from’). We talked about the latest edition of Vampire the Masquerade earlier this season and concluded that it did what it needs to in a suitable style, if you like that sort of thing. How does that fit with huge chunks of crunchy campaign-world detail like this? Don’t click that dial!Chicago by Night at DriveThruRPG (there’s more information here than at the publishers’ website)Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition at DriveThruRPGThe original Chicago by Night from 1991 at DriveThruRPGChicago by Night second edition (1993) at DriveThruRPGRead the full show notes here. Discuss this episode on our Discord.
Transcribe →Ludonarrative Dissidents Livestream for May
May 2501:04:53Tap to summarizeOur livestream discussion for May, featuring special guest Jerry Grayson of Khepera Publishing. Check out the Godsend Agenda today.Watch the episode on YoutubeDiscuss this episode on our Discord.
Transcribe →Ludonarrative Dissidents Livestream for April 2026
May 501:04:06Tap to summarizeOur April livestream!Watch the livestream on YoutubeDiscuss this episode on our Discord.
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Call of Cthulhu: In Medias Res
Apr 2201:11:43Tap to summarizeIN MEDIAS RES is a short modern-horror scenario (‘adventure’ is the wrong word for it) by John Scott Tynes, originally designed for Cthulhu Now and first printed in The Unspeakable Oath issue 10 in 1993. It was reprinted in The Resurrected #3 – Out of the Vault in 2003. Thirty years after its publication, it still lives up to its reputation as an unflinching piece of modern horror RPG design that’s genuinely horrific.Read the full show notes here.Discuss this episode on our Discord.
Transcribe →Ludonarrative Dissidents Livestream for March 2026
Apr 601:04:50Tap to summarizeOur March livestream!Watch the livestream on YoutubeDiscuss this episode on our Discord.
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Maelstrom
Mar 2001:09:06Tap to summarizeMAELSTROM is a paperback-format RPG written by Alex Scott and published in 1984 by Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Books in the UK. It contains rules for roleplaying in Europe, mostly England, at the time of the Tudors (the 1500s), with a solo adventure, a sample adventure and a herbiary. It is an interesting comparison to the other 1980s British RPG set in a faux-Europe of the early Renaissance, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, which was published two years later.The game was re-released by Arion Games in 2008, and the company has also released an expanded version and several supplements, as well as standalone titles Maelstrom Domesday (set after the Norman invasion), Maelstrom Rome and Maelstrom Gothic.Maelstrom at Wikipedia Maelstrom at DriveThruRPGRead the full show notes here.Discuss this episode on our Discord.
Transcribe →Livestream for February 2026
Feb 2301:15:27Tap to summarizeWe have a special guest, Adam Scott Glancy, one of the Delta Green co-authors! He clarifies a few points about Delta Green Countdown.Watch the livestream on YoutubeDiscuss this episode on our Discord.
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Delta Green: Countdown
Feb 201:14:49Tap to summarizeSponsor: Technical Difficulties Podcast - check out an excellent actual play RPG podcast, featuring Delta Green, Eclipse Phase, and many other fine systems featured on LND.Delta Green Countdown is a massive sourcebook for the original edition of Delta Green. It blows the doors off the world of Delta Green, reaching wider and digging deeper to map the terrain of the twisted pulp apocalypse we call the dawning of the 21st century. How has it aged since then?Read the full show notes here. Discuss this episode on our Discord.
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