Narrative Damage
An actual play TTRPG podcast where your favourite authors swap their pens for dice and gather together to tell tales. Join them as they explore games including Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, Alien, The One Ring and many more through immersive world-building and high-stakes storytelling (with fun and drama in equal measure!) Between scenarios, we sit down with TTRPG legends for deep-dive interviews. Craft worlds. Roll dice. Tell stories. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Haunted Memories | City of Whispers: Part 4 | Blades in the Dark Actual Play
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The jewellery heist from Charterhall University stirs old memories for the crew as Vey is interrogated about her father's disappearance and the gang look further into just what it is they have stolen...
Welcome to Doskvol, where the sun has been shattered and the city is shrouded in mist and soot. Giant lightning towers keep out the spirits of the dead as most of the people in the city struggle to makes ends meet.
Cast:
C.L. Clark (author of...
A Royal Reception | City of Whispers: Part 3 | Blades in the Dark Actual Play
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Fresh from one (sort of) successful jewellery heist, The Haunts set course for another one - this time, in the presence of Doskvol Royalty... What could go wrong??
Welcome to Doskvol, where the sun has been shattered and the city is shrouded in mist and soot. Giant lightning towers keep out the spirits of the dead as most of the people in the city struggle to makes ends meet.
Cast:
C.L. Clark (author of The Unbroken and Fortune's Wake...
Dinner with the Dimmers | City of Whispers: Part 2 | Blades in the Dark Actual Play
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Our crew broke into the house of the mysterious Dimmer Sisters last time around and are now invited to a dinner they will never forget... can they escape with the necklace they came to steal - and their spirits intact?
Welcome to Doskvol, where the sun has been shattered and the city is shrouded in mist and soot. Giant lightning towers keep out the spirits of the dead as most of the people in the city struggle to makes ends meet.
Cast...
Welcome To Doskvol | City of Whispers: Part 1 | Blades in the Dark Actual Play
Watch as a full video episode on YouTube
Welcome to Doskvol, where the sun has been shattered and the city is shrouded in mist and soot. Giant lightning towers keep out the spirits of the dead as most of the people in the city struggle to makes ends meet.
While the nobles of the Imperium claim to run the city, the real power lies with the many gangs of Doskvol, different factions vying to seize control. Newest among them is a small group calling themselves The Haunts; 4 desperate scoundrels who have decided to...
Jon Gracey on the storytelling power of games
Watch as a full video interview on our YouTube channel
In this special crossover episode with our sister podcast, Page One - The Writer's Podcast, we chat with the brilliant Jon Gracey!
Jon is a writer, actor, producer, games designer and much more! Host of the hugely popular Blood on the Clocktower live, Jon also designs board games and appears regularly on No Rolls Barred as well as other gaming channels playing both board games and roleplaying games. His debut novel will be set in the world of Blood on the Clocktower.
<...Tim Denee On Bringing The Swinging 60s to Blades in the Dark
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Tim Denee is a graphic designer and TTRPG creator who has created resources for games such as Blades in the Dark, as well as developing his own games such as Deathmatch Island, Odyssey Aquatica and, most recently, the Blades in the Dark supplement, Blades '68, which takes the world of Blades 100 years into the future into the swinging 60s.
We had great fun chatting with Tim, hearing about how he first got into TTRPGs and then how he began designing for them. We chat about...
Dr. Emily Friedman on the history of actual play
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Emily C. Friedman teaches courses on British literature, book history, games, and playful media. Trained as a book historian, narratologist, and digital humanist, her work examines the history of cultural production outside of commercial mass media from the eighteenth century to today, from never-published manuscript fiction to analog games. Now one of the senior scholars and public intellectuals in the field of "Actual Play," a new media form where roleplaying games are performed for audiences, her research on the topic has appeared in multiple academic books and journals...
Damage Assessment: Breakdown and Debrief of From The Dust | Delta Green Actual Play
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We break down our recent actual of Delta Green's From The Dust and get the Handler and players' views on what went wrong, what went right, and what we added and missed from the scenario as written.,
Narrative Damage is a TTRPG podcast that asks authors to put down their pens, pick up the dice and tell stories together.
Cast:
Benedict Anning, author of Atomic Coffin - Agent Meridian
Tariq Ashkanani, author of The Hollow Boys - Agent...
From The Dust - Part 4: Magna Mater | Delta Green Actual Play
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New York, 1993. In the final part of our Delta Green adventure, the Agents have a name to follow and it seems to lead back to Unit 35 and the mysterious door. But what will they find on the other side? And will they ever return?
Narrative Damage is a TTRPG podcast that asks authors to put down their pens, pick up the dice and tell stories together.
Cast:
Benedict Anning, author of Atomic Coffin - Agent Meridian
Tariq Ashkanani...
From The Dust - Part 3: Thousand-Faced Moon | Delta Green Actual Play
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New York, 1993. Agents Mercator and Meridian choose to surveil the Gerritsen Mansion at night, but find more than they bargained for, while Agents Myriad and Midnight's investigations turn up even more disturbing leads. Just what happened in Red Hook? And is the truth better left buried?
Narrative Damage is a TTRPG podcast that asks authors to put down their pens, pick up the dice and tell stories together.
Cast:
Benedict Anning, author of Atomic Coffin - Agent Meridian
...
From The Dust - Part 2: The Mansion | Delta Green Actual Play
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New York, 1993. Our four mismatched agents begin to investigate the mansion that Delta Green believes is linked to the disappearances of three young children. What they start to uncover is both troubling and unsettling. Can they find out the truth before it begins to eat away at their own lives?
Narrative Damage is a TTRPG podcast that asks authors to put down their pens, pick up the dice and tell stories together.
Cast:
Benedict Anning, author of Atomic Coffin...
From The Dust - Part 1: Green Box | Delta Green Actual Play
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New York, 1993. In the sweltering heat of late summer, four mismatched operatives are activated by Delta Green to take part in Operation Blister II. Three young children have gone missing and Delta Green believe it is linked to an old mansion in the Red Hook area of the city. Will our agents find out what happened before the Unnatural threat strikes again?
Narrative Damage is a TTRPG podcast that asks authors to put down their pens, pick up the dice and tell stories together.
<...Damage Assessment - Under A Yellow Moon Breakdown and Debrief
Welcome to Damage Assessment - our look back at our actual plays, where we breakdown the scenario, talk about what went well, what could've gone better, and what might help you run the same scenario at your table.
Under A Yellow Moon is a scenario we wrote especially for our live actual play at Cymera Festival in Edinburgh. Set in 1892 Edinburgh, our investigators must solve the murder of a visiting professor from Miskatonic University and track down the mysterious manuscript she brought with her before they go insane...
Watch or listen to our...
Under a Yellow Moon: Part 2 | Cthulhu By Gaslight Actual Play
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Join us for the second (and final) part of the recording of our live Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu by Gaslight scenario, recorded at Cymera Festival in June 2026.
When a visiting professor from Miskatonic University turns up dead, a motley group of investigators are put into a race against time to find her killer. Why was she murdered? And what happened to the manuscript she brought with her?
Last time, our players discovered the professor had been looking into The King in...
Under a Yellow Moon: Part 1 | Cthulhu By Gaslight Actual Play
Watch as a full video episode on YouTube
Join us for the first part of the recording of our live Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu by Gaslight scenario, recorded at Cymera Festival in June 2026.
When a visiting professor from Miskatonic University turns up dead, a motley group of investigators are put into a race against time to find her killer. Why was she murdered? And what happened to the manuscript she brought with her? Join our players (all authors attending Cymera!) as they attempt to follow the clues, uncover dark secrets - or go...
Chris Lackey Explains His New One-Shot Game System, Strange Stories
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Chris Lackey is a podcaster, writer and TTRPG creator who has hosted the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast and Strange Studies of Strange Stories Podcast. Also an American filmmaker and animator, Chris directed and co-wrote the animated feature film The Chosen One and was the associate producer of the films The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer in the Darkness. He co-wrote the graphic novel Deadbeats and adapted 'The Temple' for SelfMadeHero's Lovecraft Anthology: Volume II. His new game, Strange Stories, based on the stories examined in his...
Matthew Capodicasa explains the origins of The Glass Cannon Network
Watch as a full video interview on our YouTube channel
Matthew Capodicasa is one of the founding members of the Glass Cannon Network, one of the leading actual play podcasts, as well as being an award-winning playwright whose work has been developed and presented across the globe. In addition to his extensive theater work, he has Film/TV projects in development with Annapurna Pictures, Anonymous Content, and XYZ Films.
We had a great time chatting with Matthew, hearing about discovering TTRPGs as an adult, how his playwriting background influences his roleplaying, and the...
Haunted Fortunes Part 4: The Showdown | Pathfinder played with Nimble | Actual Play
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Four heroes searching for vengeance against one man: Gaedren Lamm. Last time our heroes managed to take down three of Gaedren's henchmen, only to leave themselves in a precarious position in the hold of an old ship. Can they survive - and finally find their quarry?
In the final part (for now!) of our miniseries, we play through an adapted version of Haunted Fortunes, the opening scenario (written by Nicolas Logue) of the epic Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign for Pathfinder from Paizo.
<...Haunted Fortunes Part 3: The Old Fishery | Pathfinder played with Nimble | Actual Play
Watch as a video episode on YouTube
Welcome to Narrative Damage, the actual play TTRPG podcast where authors swap their pens for dice and see where the story takes them!
Four heroes searching for vengeance against one man: Gaedren Lamm. Last time out, they found a hideout where his accomplices gathered, and their attempts to sweet-talk their way in failed, leaving them in a tricky position (especially after splitting the party three ways!) Can they survive their (first!) combats and search the hideout for clues to Lamm's whereabouts?
In part...
Haunted Fortunes Part 2: The Hideout | Pathfinder played with Nimble | Actual Play
Watch as a video episode on YouTube
Welcome to Narrative Damage, the actual play TTRPG podcast where authors swap their pens for dice and see where the story takes them!
Four heroes, all scarred by one man: Gaedren Lamm. Last time, they were gathered together by mysterious Harrow cards, meeting Fortune Teller Zellara, who told them of a way they might gain revenge against Lamm. But first, they have to find him...
In part two of this our miniseries, we play through an adapted version of Haunted Fortunes, the opening...
Haunted Fortunes Part 1: The Reading | Pathfinder played with Nimble
Watch as a full video episode on YouTube!
Welcome to Narrative Damage, the actual play TTRPG podcast where authors swap their pens for dice and see where the story takes them!
On the edge of Conqueror’s Bay sits the city of Korvosa, the jewel of Varisia. Ruled by a line of monarchs from atop the Crimson Throne, King Eodred II is its latest ruler. But as whispers of the King’s declining health concern the nobles of Highgate, people wonder if the deadly curse of the Crimson Throne will ever be broken.
Adrian Tchaikovsky on How TTRPGs Help Him Build Award-Winning Worlds
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Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. Children of Time won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, and Children of Ruin and Shards of Earth both won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel. The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel, while And Put Away Childish Things won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction. Â
We had a fa...
Kieron Gillen on his love of RPGs and Why GMs Make Good Players
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Kieron Gillen is a British comic book writer and former video game journalist. He is best known for his work on high-profile titles such as Star Wars, X-Men, and The Eternals, as well as his acclaimed creator-owned series The Wicked + The Divine and Die. A longtime enthusiast of tabletop roleplaying games, he famously helped to develop a standalone RPG system to accompany his Die comic series, bridging the gap between narrative fiction and interactive gaming. He is currently working on new projects like Power Fantasy and Meta Dungeon.<...
Seth Skorkowsky's Secrets to Engaging RPG Storytelling
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In this episode of Narrative Damage, we sit down with legendary TTRPG creator and author Seth Skorkowsky to peel back the curtain on the art of tabletop storytelling.
Seth shares his unique perspective on the "myth" of skill overlap between writing novels and running games, arguing that a great Game Master is more like a campfire performer or a stand-up comedian than a novelist, and why having total control as a writer is the polar opposite of the pure reaction skills required at the gaming...
Gareth Hanrahan on how to make TTRPG writing connect with players
Watch as a full video interview on our YouTube channel
Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan is a writer and game designer. Originally qualified as a computer programmer, he took a three month break to see how “this writing thing” would go. More than fifteen years later, he’s still on that break. The writing thing seems to be going. Gareth has published more role-playing games and supplements than he can even recall, including the award-winning The Laundry RPG, The One Ring and The Dracula Dossier. He is currently working on (among other games) the DIE Metadungeon, tying into Kieron Gillen...
Chaosium writer Kat Clay on how to make horror matter
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Kat Clay is an ENNIE and ARPIA award-winning author of tabletop roleplaying games from Melbourne, Australia. Her Call of Cthulhu games, The Hammersmith Haunting, Resort, and The Well of All Fear, are bestsellers on DriveThruRPG. The Well of All Fear won the silver ENNIE in 2024 for Best Community Content, and was nominated for Best Adventure – Short Form. Resort, won Best Scenario at the 2025 Australian Roleplaying Industry Awards. She works as a freelance editor and graphic designer for game publisher, Chaosium.
We had a gr...
Damage Assessment - A Breakdown of Loki's Gift
Welcome to Damage Assessment - our look back at our actual plays, where we breakdown the scenario, talk about what went well, what could've gone better, and what might help you run the same scenario at your table.
Loki's Gift is a Call of Cthulhu scenario from Chaosium's Cults of Cthulhu book by Chris Lackey, Mike Mason and friends. Set in Late Victorian London in 1896, it focuses on the investigation into the death of Charles Gladstone, musician and son of Lord Richard Gladstone. Watch or listen to our playthrough now and then head back here to...
Call of Cthulhu: Loki's Gift - Part 3: The Finale
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Descend into madness with us as our cast of three authors swap pens for dice in the final part of this Call of Cthulhu scenario.
The curtain rises...
After last week's traumatic ending, our investigators try to piece the final clues together - but can they find out the truth before it's too late? And will they finally see the play that everyone is talking about: Loki's Gift?
Cast:
- Tariq Ashkanani (author of The Midnight King...
Call of Cthulhu: Loki's Gift - Part 2
Watch as a full video episode on YouTube
Descend into madness with us as our cast of three authors swap pens for dice in the second part of this Call of Cthulhu scenario.
What drove Charles Gladstone to his death?
Our investigators continue their pursuit of the truth as they meet those who had contact with Charles Gladstone shortly before his death. What is the play Ernest Chillingworth asked Charles to work on? What does the actress Margaret Cornwall know? And can they track down Charles' fellow composer, Daniel Ridley...
Call of Cthulhu: Loki's Gift - Part 1
Watch as a full video episode on YouTube
Descend into madness with us as our cast of three authors swap pens for dice in the first part of this Call of Cthulhu scenario.
"I must know why my son took his own life."
When Lord Gladstone calls three hardy investigators to his London mansion on a cold rainy evening in October 1896, they awaken old scars - and create new ones. What was the music that Charles Gladstone was working on before his death, and why is it so unsettling?
<...Ep. 3 - Writing Mystery and Madness with Mike Mason of Chaosium
Watch as a full video interview on our YouTube channel
In the final of our cross-over interview episodes with Page One, we chat with the brilliant Mike Mason!
Mike Mason is an award-winning game designer and writer, and the creative director for the Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying game. As well as being the commissioning editor and lead writer for the line, Mike also works closely with artists and cartographers to shape the look and art for Call of Cthulhu.
It was great speaking with Mike and hearing how his love...
Ep. 2 - Dennis Detwiller On Why Every Writer Should Read Roleplaying Games
Watch as a full video interview on our YouTube channel
Dennis Detwiller is an illustrator, writer and designer who has worked in the field of video games, card games and tabletop roleplaying games. He worked on Magic: The Gathering, and is a co-creator of the award-winning TTRPG, Delta Green, including being author of the legendary Impossible Landscapes campaign.
We loved having the opportunity to speak with Dennis, who told us how he stumbled into and then out of the world of video games, and how he created Delta Green. We talked about the...
Ep. 1 - Sydney Amanuel on How Live TTRPG Storytelling Really Works
Watch as a full video interview on YouTube
Welcome to the first episode of Narrative Damage - a podcast where some of your favourite authors gather together to roll dice, craft worlds and tell stories together through the medium of tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs)!
For our first guest, we are delighted to chat with the brilliant Sydney Amanuel. Sydney is an actor and designer from New York. While she is usually spotted in films and TV, she also appears on multiple TTRPG podcasts on The Glass Cannon Network where she plays various characters fu...
