Stars Without Number

One D&D session, three connected screens. Lumen VTT gives game masters and players a shared place to run maps, music, combat, dice, character actions, and table-facing moments without turning the session into admin work. What Lumen VTT is for Lumen is designed for D&D 5e groups that want the structure of a modern VTT while keeping play moving. It focuses on combat flow, animated tabletop feedback, live session tools, music, and fast GM setup. A VTT for active tables The app supports a GM view, player views, and a live table display, so a group can play online or around a real table with a TV. Players can use phones while the GM manages the encounter. Automation where it helps Combat features are built around common 5e tasks such as attack rolls, saves, damage, healing, conditions, initiative, movement, and area effects. The goal is to reduce bookkeeping while keeping decisions visible. What to compare in any virtual tabletop When comparing VTT software, look at how quickly a session starts, how much rules work is automated, whether players need heavy setup, how the map feels during combat, and whether the tool supports your actual table format. Links lumenvtt.com - Official website

"Ludonarrative dissonance" is a term from game-design commentary, describing a moment when the game mechanics pull in one direction but the game story pulls in another, creating dissonance. The ‘Ludonarrative Dissidents’ are three game designers, reviewers and commentators, veterans in the field of ludic narrative, who have come together to discuss the art, science and craft of RPG design by vivisecting game systems and seeing what makes them run.  Your hosts are Ross Payton, Greg Stolze and James Wallis. Ethos Every episode of Ludonarrative Dissidents is built around four pillars: What does this game do? How does it do that? How do people play it? Why do they play it that way? (and how well does it succeed?) We examine games from all angles: mechanical, ludic, narrativist, historical, cultural, structural, whether or not it’s fun, and Greg complains about its use of the future-conditional tense. We look at its influences and pedigree, its narrative engine, its world-building, its book-design, and James reveals that he dated the designer’s sister, or something like that. In season 2 we have added episodes that look at specific aspects of RPGs, such as initiative systems, metacurrencies and diceless games. Origins The idea behind Ludonarrative Dissidents came from a Twitter discussion in early 2021. Someone was looking for RPG designers to work on a project, someone else suggested Greg and James, and after the two of them politely declined, a third person opined that a podcast with the two talking about games and game design would be quite a thing. Greg and James exchanged a virtual glance across the Atlantic, Greg mentioned the idea to Ross, the three of them filled a Google document with ideas, and the project was born. Links ludonarrativedissidents.com - Official website spotify.com - Spotify feed podcast.apple.com - Apple Podcasts feed discord.gg - Discord server ko-fi.com - Ko-Fi page

Sufficiently Advanced is a transhuman roleplaying game of the far future. Humanity has been reconstructed by time and technology. Wield incredible technological enhancements and thousands of years of expertise, or the ability to mold the story of the game. Play a digital intelligence with remote-controlled robot drones, a diplomatic team that shares a group-mind, a soldier infused with nanotechnology, or even a living starship. Play an Old-Worlder witnessing our fantastic universe for the first time, or a Masquerader taking on different identities each day. Description This second edition runs on an entirely new diceless system. What consequences you are willing to accept in order to win? Or, when you are outmatched, can your failure help your team succeed? Use Plots and Projects to change the world, and force Complications on your characters now to warp the plot in their favor later on. Discover five different futures: To The Stars, where you form a first-contact team reconnecting with the lost seeds of humanity. The Divide, full of espionage and intrigue, where trust is hard to find and the sides are ever shifting. The Powder Keg, a universe tumbling into a war that may mean the end of everything. Sublight, where secret societies champion their causes by transmitting their operatives across the stars. The Patent Office, where your team of Inspectors seeks to protect humanity from its own worst excesses. The future is bright, but not without danger. Come explore it with us. Links suffadv.wikidot.com - Official wiki & System Reference Document drivethrurpg.com - DriveThruRPG store page