Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. Each week EN World’s Jessica Hancock interviews the creators behind different tabletop roleplaying games that aren’t D&D! Throughout July 2025 we are looking at TTRPGs with accessible mechanics. Sometimes learning a new ttrpg can feel like a chore, or a difficult task. These games look to remove that barrier as much as possible. First Encounter Five By Five SHIFT Roleplaying System...
Jul 07, 2025•3 min•Ep. 152
In Galactic & Going Rogue you play rebels, soldiers, spies, and criminals, or perhaps someone who simply picked up and blaster and said "enough is enough." A GM less game for 2-6 players which takes inspiration from Galactic, Rogue One, and Andor. Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/galacticgoingrogue/galactic-and-going-rogue-two-ttrpgs-of-war-among-the-stars?ref=9o21i2 Website: https://jumpgate.games Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jumpgategames.itch.io Itch: https://jumpga...
Jun 23, 2025•45 min•Ep. 151
Midnight Muscadines is a cozy-dark tabletop roleplaying game where light and shadow intertwine in a fractured world. Players take on the roles of Marmateers—brave adventurers who venture into the untamed Wildernight to collect the elusive Midnight Muscadines, craft magical jams, and protect the fragile light of Nimm. The games comes with a variety of play modes; solo, duet, GM’less and GM-led. Perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli and Sea of Stars -- Midnight Muscadines seeks to capture the magic of...
Jun 16, 2025•38 min•Ep. 150
‘I Could Do This In My Sleep’ is a cyberpunk entry to DriveThruRPG’s 2025 PocketQuest game jam. Powered by a simple yet flexible character skill system, I Could Do This In My Sleep suits a group of 2 - 4 players and one game master. A modern-day cyberpunk tabletop roleplaying game where Cybernetic implants keep the masses of Great Britain on their feet and working 16 hours a day, dead to the world around them. You play someone with a glitched chip in their head that lets you hijack work streams ...
May 26, 2025•39 min•Ep. 149
Take on xenophobic separatists, cut throat criminals, lethal machines, and otherworldly predators as you strive for a better future together on the Frontier. Changed Stars is a sci-fi roleplaying game set in a bright-yet-perilous future. Inspired by utopian feminist science fiction and contemporary gritty speculative futures, Changed Stars presents a modern-take on a post-patriarchal society for the players to navigate. The game features a unique d6 system. On a test only a single 6 is necessary...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 148
Frostpunk, the Tabletop Roleplaying Game based on the award-winning Frostpunk video games The cold is unrelenting. It's been ten years since the end of the world. Cities depend on massive generators that provide heat, and machinery that excavates resources and grows food. Humans scramble to survive, relying on the pillars of Faith and Order to build societies that can keep residents alive despite the odds. You have skills to contribute to the city—but can you make the difficult choices needed fo...
May 12, 2025•23 min•Ep. 147
In May, Not DnD is looking to the future. Some visions are frozen, some dark and dystopian, but others feature a rehabilitated vision of humanity. Join us as we look forward in time. Frostpunk Changed Stars I Could Do This In My Sleep
May 05, 2025•5 min•Ep. 146
Join us for a cozy interview of mystery, psychic prediction, community, and tea. This week we’re speaking to James Kerr about The Psychic Danger Society. The unique mechanics of the game give you a pool of “prediction dice” which you roll at the start of the session. The players choose which dice results to use when resolving issues in the game. Each die, when put forward, is spent and gone, leaving players with fewer to use should something go wrong. If you’re caught without dice, you can't kno...
Apr 28, 2025•45 min•Ep. 145
Runecaster is a narrative TTRPG about learning magic through spectacular failure. Play as rookie mages who cast unique spells by combining runes. Magic will just as often blow up in your face as it will light your way. Join as we speak to Wes Zebrowski on this weeks episode of Not DnD. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pangurbancollective/runecaster-a-narrative-ttrpg-of-magical-experimentation...
Apr 21, 2025•26 min•Ep. 144
What does it take to survive the wilderness? Who does it take? A soldier, a talker, a hunter, a witch? Who lives and who starves? In the wilderness, food is the only thing that matters -- and while your stomachs go empty and wounds begin to ache,one thing remains truly certain... the World will Feast. COLD SUN is a visceral roleplaying game by Robert Cambias about scarcity, survival, and adventure, for 1-8 players. It takes inspiration from John Harper’s Blades in the Dark, Patrick Stuart’s Vein...
Apr 14, 2025•26 min•Ep. 143
Become one of The Cunning Folk with this rules-lite dark comedy ttrpg. Use your Magick and Luck to create a whole heap of Mischief. And seek devilish revenge on mortals on the receiving end of your ire. The Cunning folks has its own system with a simple D6 dice pool, and interestingly features a levelling DOWN as well as levelling up mechanic. The rules encourage a ‘failing forward’ style of storytelling, and the low prep required of the GM makes it ideal for one shots. The game is launching on ...
Mar 31, 2025•33 min•Ep. 142
Join host Jessica on this week's episode of Not D&D, presented by E.N. World, as she delves into the innovative tabletop RPG 'Mapa Mundi' with creator George Francis Bickers from Three Sail Studios. Mappa Mundi is a TTRPG driven by exploration and ecology. Players take on the role of Chroniclers, brave souls setting out from hearth and home to travel the wilds and tell the story of this world in flux. Emphasising non-violent gameplay, Chroniclers must work with the peoples, monsters, and cre...
Mar 24, 2025•40 min•Ep. 141
Join us in this week's episode of Not D&D, where Jessica hosts Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan. Fear Itself plunges ordinary people into a disturbing contemporary world of madness and violence —and inexorably draws them into confrontation with creatures of the Outer Dark, a realm of alien menace. Gareth shares insights on the unique Gumshoe system that fuels investigations, ensuring that players seamlessly uncover the game's dark secrets. Fear Itself - Shattered Veil Edition is live on gamefound this ...
Mar 17, 2025•23 min•Ep. 139
Welcome to this week's episode of Not D&D, where host Jessica is joined by game designer Laurie Blake to discuss their innovative tabletop role-playing game, Why We Fight. Why We Fight is a solo+ narrative TTRPG where you play a crew of eco-punks fighting fascism to build a brighter, greener future. Using a designed-for-purpose, lightweight system (PbtA meets FATE) developed with new school revolution (NSR) attitude and perspective. Your Crew will journey through the remains of a post-civil ...
Mar 11, 2025•36 min•Ep. 140
It's been three years of Not DnD, the weekly podcast discussing tabletop roleplaying games. This month we are looking at Why We Fight, a solo+ narrative TTRPG where you play a crew of eco-punks fighting fascism to build a brighter, greener future. Fear Itself plunges ordinary people into a disturbing contemporary world of madness and violence —and inexorably draws them into confrontation with creatures of the Outer Dark, a realm of alien menace. Mappa Mundi is a TTRPG driven by exploration and e...
Mar 03, 2025•4 min•Ep. 138
Been watching the second season of Squid Game recently? Despair Dilema is a Death Game that take inspiration from this and other narratives such as DanganRonpa and Zero Escape. Game designer Nora Jean Haynes shares the unique mechanics of "Despair Dilemma," a game that challenges traditional RPG narratives by having players assume the roles of narrative forces instead of characters. And how it navigates player safety and narrative control through structured phases of play. Backerkit: https://www...
Feb 24, 2025•36 min•Ep. 137
My guilty pleasure is low budget zombie movies. I love running survival horror, and enjoy a rules light system for this sort of storytelling. Reanimated is based on the Key Powered System using 2d8, with an infection mechanic that makes every interaction with the undead a risk. The game offered a huge amount of customisation options to run the stye of survival horror you are looking to create, and is very much a sandbox to craft your own stories within. Jed Doerksen discusses his journey from a ...
Feb 17, 2025•27 min•Ep. 136
Today we're speaking to Federico Sohns about their game Zephyr on Not DnD. The world feels dark, moody and almost lonely, but the game also provide elements of colours and connection. This is a really unique game, and I think it will be a really interesting discussion to listen to. You play one of the Windfall who are are born of, and live upon, the back of a colossal sentient content. You travel across it to fulfil sacred obligations. Obligation and Debt are a key theme of the game, and has an ...
Feb 10, 2025•40 min•Ep. 135
It's a cold dark month here in the UK, but has fleeting glimpses of spring on the horizon. I think the games I’ve chosen for February 2025 for Not DnD reflect that mood. Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. Each week EN Publishing’s @tabletopjess interviews the creators behind different tabletop roleplaying games that aren’t D&D! You can watch the live recording every Monday at 5pm ET / 10pm GMT on YouTube or Twitch....
Feb 03, 2025•2 min•Ep. 134
Mum Chums is a slice-of-life game where each player portrays someone who cares for a young child, nominally set in Britain. Play begins as their kids start primary school. A GMless game exploring the relationships between people who raise children, coming soon to Kickstarter . https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/floaker/mum-chums...
Jan 27, 2025•36 min•Ep. 133
Bitter Chalice is a Soulslike fantasy TTRPG about insatiable hunger in a blighted land. It's inspired by video games like Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and Elden Ring (but without the repetitive and frustrating deaths). Bitter Chalice is structured to be a different experience to traditional TTRPGs: think of it as one huge, highly curated game campaign that comes with its own rules. Find out more about this upcoming game as we speak to Tommaso De Benetti on this weeks episode of Not DnD...
Jan 20, 2025•35 min•Ep. 132
Here's a cosy solo TTRPG for those looking to escape the darkness of the season. ION Heart is a Lo-Fi Solo Mech TTRPG. Discover planets, solar systems and cultures of your own making in the peaceful galaxy of the Astral Union. Create a pilot and their mech best friend and sail the stars with. Your job as a pilot is to bond with your mech as you explore together and find a home for you both in the stars wherever your path may take you. https://ion-heart-a-cozy-solo-mech-ttrpg.backerkit.com/hosted...
Jan 13, 2025•29 min•Ep. 131
Happy New Year! Here's the games we will be looking at in January 2025: Ion Heart Bitter Chalice Mum Chums More information and links to the live streams can be found here: https://www.enworld.org/threads/new-year-plans-for-not-dnd.709468/ Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. Each week EN Publishing’s @tabletopjess interviews the creators behind different tabletop roleplaying games that aren’t D&D! You can watch the live recording every Monday at 5pm ET / 10pm GMT ...
Jan 06, 2025•5 min•Ep. 130
I knew BIND would be a good fit for Not D&D, as it is an acronym for BIND Is Not D&D! The game uses a 2D6 system at its core, and introduces new rules as needed for the module you are playing. BIND is a community driven grunge-fantasy TTRPG which is based around free and open source software. BIND is a has a ‘Print It Yourself’ format instead of traditional publishing. Done this way to make it accessible for gamers all over the world, and encourage you to scribble your own notes in the p...
Dec 30, 2024•37 min•Ep. 129
Deepspace RPG, the new card-based sci-fi RPG. The card based combat is inspired by deck building board games. The game is currently in development by Ethan from Flaming River Studios, and available to download for free. Download the game: https://flamingriverstudios.itch.io/deepspace-rpg Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/flamingriver Playtest: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d1ALFM2sQo88I6hLQRbVCvBosbU6INbM/view
Dec 23, 2024•33 min•Ep. 125
Be Seeing You is a roleplaying game about independence, control, freedom and compliance. Influenced by fiction in the vein of The Prisoner, Stalker, and Utopia, and real struggles against mass surveillance, the Hostile Environment, and the alienating effects of capitalism. The game is for three to five players and needs no GM. There are also additional play modes for solo player, and a two player versus mode - which feature new mechanics and change the feel of the game. Creator Tanya Floaker joi...
Dec 16, 2024•41 min•Ep. 127
Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition is built around the GUMSHOE system, which is perfect for a game of investigation and horror. You take on the roles of stalwart investigators - detectives, journalists, scientists, ordinary people - as they uncover clues and unravel cryptic mysteries that lead inexorably towards the terrifying cosmic horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos described in the works of writer H. P. Lovecraft and his disciples. Join us as we speak to Kenneth Hite and Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan on this we...
Dec 10, 2024•40 min•Ep. 128
Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. Each week EN Publishing’s @tabletopjess interviews the creators behind different tabletop roleplaying games that aren’t D&D! Here's the games we will be looking at in December 2024. You can read more on EN World at https://www.enworld.org/threads/ttrpgs-that-are-not-dnd-for-december.708253/...
Dec 02, 2024•4 min•Ep. 126
PSYCHODUNGEON is a fantasy workplace action drama, played using No Dice and No Masters. It's a tabletop roleplaying game set in a world of mobile phones and magic spells, mass transit and malevolent demons, the supernatural intermingled with the everyday. In Glyndain, when a persons trauma hits a breaking point, their troubles manifest physically as a psychodungeon full of monstrous nightmares. Plumbers are called in to clean out the dungeons and close them off. It’s difficult work. Dangerous. T...
Nov 25, 2024•43 min•Ep. 123
Aegean is a tabletop role-playing game about a group of mythic heroes building a new, free city on the shores of the Aegean Sea. There are neighbouring cities to trade or war with, monsters to kill, gods to appease, deceptions, negotiations and bloody skirmishes. With a core resolution mechanic of a D10 dice pool, the game also balances Risk, Glory and Hubris as game mechanics which impact your character. The pantheon of gods are very present, as you would expect in this setting, and can grant f...
Nov 18, 2024•44 min•Ep. 124
