137 Astra Arcanum provides deep tactical combat in a sci-fi setting

We first started the show in March 2022! I love speaking to designers and publishers of all sizes about their games. I’m incredibly lucky to get to do this as part of my job, but loving your work and creating projects you are passionate about can make maintaining work-life balance a challenge. So in 2026 the Not DnD podcast will be on a break for the foreseeable future. This will not be the end of the Not DnD podcast though! After a break we will be looking to bring the show back, perhaps in a different format or structure to make it more sustainable. Thank you all for watching and listening to Not DnD over the last three years. You can still catch me each week on the Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk (Live streaming as always Friday at 2pm UK time/ 9am Eastern) and This Week in TTRPG podcasts.

Twilight Sword is an adventure role-playing game inspired by classic video-games like The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Ni No Kuni. The game uses an original CAT (Created at Twilight) system. Most actions are resolved by rolling a D12 and rolling equal to or below their relevant ability score. The game also features cooking and brewing mini games, a hope/despair mechanic, and has simple journey rules to make travel part of the game. Find out more as we speak to Simone and Rico from Two Little Mice today on Not DnD. https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/two-little-mice/twilight-sword

Branch Riders is an easy to play narrative driven role playing game built on the concepts of action, investigation, and creative play. In the game you play as Branch Riders, fighting to contain a malevolent force known as the Blight. Your home is the Nexus, which branches out into eight distinct realms. Protecting the realms is a game of battle and subterfuge, foiling the Blight and then returning to the Nexus to debrief and recover. Players track the team’s Exposure - how aware the Blight is of their presence - and as Exposure increases, the mission becomes more difficult and dangerous. The games unique system has a quick and simple character creation. Choose your home realm, assign dice to your five Approaches (attributes), rate your skills, choose your Gift, and write your Purpose - that’s it! Branch riders also uses cards to track conditions with physical, emotional, or social consequences in-game. Find out more as we speak to Jack Berkenstock and Doug Hagler on this weeks episode of Not DnD.   kickstarter.com/projects/tbgjack/branch-riders-tabletop-role-playing-game https://discord.com/channels/478634844532768768/985969962969616384

It’s a huge and dangerous world out there, and it does not look kindly on a small mouse. But if you are very brave and very clever and just a bit lucky, you might be able to survive. And if you survive long enough, you might even become a hero amongst mice. Mauritter is  an ENNIE Gold Winning (Best Family Game 2021) rules light fantasy ttrpg where you play brave little mice. Mausritter features a unique inventory system that uses physical item cards, and a dangerous and evocative magic system. Find out more as we speak to Isaac Williams on this weeks episode of Not DnD.   Mausritter month: https://www.backerkit.com/c/collections/mausritter-month  Buy: https://gamesomnivorous.com/pages/store Find out more: mausritter.com

Based on the Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right board game, Root: The RPG brings the tales of the Woodland to your RPG table!   In Root: The RPG, you play vagabonds, outcasts from the normal society of the Woodland who have come to live in the spaces between, whether that's in the forests themselves or on the fringes of society. You are competent and skilled—you have to be to survive as vagabonds—and you aren’t tied down to any particular place or faction.   The game is built on the Powered by the Apocalypse framework, and features a slew of specific and carefully designed systems to represent life in the Woodland.   Join us as we speak to creator Brendan Conway on this weeks episode of Not DnD.   https://magpiegames.com/collections/root

Shiver is a setting neutral TTRPG that works as a framework to bring your favourite scary movies, spooky tv shows, and horror stories to life.   Great for one shots, with quick to learn rules and fast character creation. The archetype game system has you matching symbols instead of adding up numbers, and the doom clock mechanic helps GMs build tension throughout the game.   Charlie Menzies from Parable Games returns this week to tell us more about Shiver.   Shiver RPG: https://www.parablegames.co.uk/pages/shiver Grim Gazette: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/parablegames/the-grim-gazette-a-collection-of-victorian-horror-ttrpgs  Don’t Play This Game Interview: https://notdnd.podbean.com/e/68-don-t-play-this-game-with-charlie-menzies/

Unfortunately this week guest had to cancel, so we have no show this week. But next week we will be back talking about to Parable Games about Shiver. https://www.parablegames.co.uk/products/shiver-core-book 

Enclave is a diceless narrative roleplaying game, but don’t mistake it for being rules light! Storytelling is everything in Enclave; the game is played purely verbally, with common sense and commitment determining success. The game has a range of mechanics that can be used for game masters, however the core mechanics are simple enough to use for a one shot with a new player. Character creation provides a range of creative options, and takes around 15 minutes. Successfully funded in 2023 on Kickstarter, the game is now expanding the core ruleset with a second edition and an expansion book providing more player options and levelling rules. Join us on this weeks episode of Not DnD where we talk to creator Robby Howell to learn more about Enclave.   Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robbylava/enclave-aspirant Discord: https://discord.gg/JdZWyf7fq2 Email: [email protected]

Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. In September we are looking at tabletop RPGs for a sci-fi setting! Traveller is a long-beloved science fiction roleplaying game first published in 1977. The game has had several editions published over it's almost 50 year history, including GURPS and d20. It's difficult to discuss sci-fi ttrpgs without mentioning this iconic game. The Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 by Mongoose publishing provided new careers, equipment, hazards, world creation, psionics and shipbuilding. Come learn more about Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition with Matt and Chris from Mongoose Publishing on this weeks (29th September) episode of Not DnD. https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/collections/traveller-rpgs  https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/  markosia.com/traveller   

Astra Arcanum is a new Sci-Fi Tabletop RPG from ENNIE winning studio with deep tactical combat, a massive character creation suite, and a vast setting to explore. The game had a hugely successful kickstarter in June 2025, and is now in development with a planned delivery of December 2026. This week we’re talking to Sarp Duyar (Producer) and Tyler Dennison (Lead Writer) from Metis Media about the how the development of the game is going, and get some behind the scenes information. ww.metismedia.net   https://www.instagram.com/metiscreativestudio/  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/metismediarpg/astra-arcanum-the-roleplaying-game