Dungeons + Drama Nerds

Dungeons + Drama Nerds

Dungeons + Drama Nerds

Episodes 179
Avg. Duration 55m
Activity Dormant
Apple Rating 5.0 (16)
Since May 2020
Latest Episode Jan 2026

Outreach Signals

Features Guests

Publishing Details

Schedule
Weekly
Format
Serial
Consistency
38%
Hosting
feed.podbean.com

About This Podcast

Dungeons + Drama Nerds is a podcast produced by Todd Brian Backus, Percy Hornak, and Nicholas Orvis, three dramaturgs interested in the intersection of theatre and tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGS). Episodes release weekly alternating between Actual Play and Commentary episodes investigating a certain TTRPG system. Season 2 will feature: Blades in the Dark, Bluebeard's Bride, Kids on Bikes, Oh Dang! Bigfoot Stole My Car With My Best Friend's Birthday Present Inside!, and Lancer. Season 1 featured: Dungeons & Dragons (Eps 1-13), Apocalypse World (Eps 14-33), and Paranoia (Eps 34-46).

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Recent Episodes

S4E6 Building Castles in DIRT with Christina Tang

Jan 21, 2026 51m

This week, Nick and Percy are joined by Christina Tang, a lighting designer and member of Sour Milk! They talk about Sour Milk’s upcoming interactive show, DIRT, a speculative piece about how to…

S6E12 “Behaving Like a Cult Already”: Stillfleet Debrief

Dec 10, 2025 53m

At the conclusion of our Stillfleet campaign, Nick sits down with the cast to discuss the experience, the ways success and failure are framed in it, and what it’s like to play such profoundly…

S6E11 Donuts is Bread

Dec 03, 2025 1h 1m

In the thrilling finale to Start the Steal, the Voidminers must figure out how to complete their ultimate mission: beating up some “artists” whose “gallery” they’re seizing on behalf of the “Dutch…

S6E10 “Not Just Anarchist Shitposting”: Leftist TTRPGs with PB Berge

Nov 19, 2025 1h 6m

This week, Percy and Nick sit down to discuss the politics of games and the different ways that TTRPGs have engaged with leftist and antifascist themes with a special guest: scholar of analog games…

S6E9 So Long and Thanks for all the Piss

Nov 12, 2025 1h 18m

The voidminers return to the Escheresque under orders to neutralize the fearful Void Elves, but they find that their enemies’ ship is of a nature they never expected - and bears power that they could…

S6E8 Any Other Lies We Wanna Go Over?

Nov 05, 2025 1h 8m

The voidminers return to Spindle to report to their supervisors at the Worshipful Company. Surely there’s a way to turn their failures into a string of sparkling successes…and avoid the Rebranding…

S6E7 Whistling Is Not a Skill: Modes of Character Creation

Oct 22, 2025 1h 27m

Nick and Percy sit down with ensemble member Christopher Diercksen to talk about different methods of creating characters in TTRPGs and how those methods affect the kinds of storytelling each game…

S6E6 They Will Find You and Kill You

Oct 15, 2025 1h 3m

Far from home on a strange planet, our heroes(?) are faced with a daunting new foe: a flying saucer full of horrifying Void Elves! Even worse: they’re artists. Dungeons and Drama Nerds is produced by…

S6E5 Escheresque Nausea

Oct 08, 2025 52m

With their charge disappeared into a box of phony ballots and the threat of a lost payday hanging over them, the voidminers descend (for the most part reluctantly) into the Escheresque. But once you…

S6E4 Imagining Future Worlds Together: an Interview with Wythe Marschall

Sep 24, 2025 1h 1m

Percy and Nick sit down to chat with Wythe Marschall, designer of Stillfleet and founder of Stillfleet Studio, about politics, science fiction, and, of course, games. Dungeons and Drama Nerds is…

S6E3 I'm a Skinfluencer

Sep 17, 2025 1h 2m

On the planet Darasan, the intrepid team of voidminers works to get every vote counted (even the fishy ones) - but when a third party intervenes, they’re forced to take a stand for one of their…

S6E1 Stillfleet Explainer

Sep 10, 2025 28m

Welcome back, drama nerds! In this episode, Percy and Nick sit down to introduce and discuss our next actual play campaign: Stillfleet, a far-future science fiction game by Wythe Marschall, published…

S6E2 Take Me Offworld, Hotboy

Sep 10, 2025 59m

In the kick-off episode to our Stillfleet campaign, we meet a ragtag crew of voidminers working for the Worshipful Company of Stillfleeters. They’re tasked with a simple transport mission of utmost…

S4E5 It Always Comes Back to Vibes: TTRPGs and Adaptation with Dominique Dickey

Apr 30, 2025 1h 8m

Nick and Percy chat with writer and game designer Dominique Dickey about all things adaptation: what counts as an adaptation? Why do we as consumers of media enjoy adaptations? What makes a bad…

S4E4 Watercolors and Whittling with Caro Asercion

Feb 19, 2025 45m

Our Dark Time series makes a triumphant return as Nick and Percy sit down with dramaturg and game designer Caro Asercion to talk about the overlap between those disciplines and what dramaturgy for…

S5E16 Our Haunt Campaign Debrief

Dec 11, 2024 54m

Nick sits down with the cast of Our Haunt - Percy, Leo, Tristan, and Kory - to talk about the game, the dead, the living, and their feelings about it all.  Dungeons and Drama Nerds is produced by…

S5E15 12:02

Dec 04, 2024 1h 15m

In the finale of our campaign of Our Haunt, Mackenzie’s coven attempts to open a pathway between this world and the world beyond so that Trinket and the other ghosts can leave the haunt, taking…

S5E14 But It Should Be

Nov 27, 2024 1h 2m

Jules ventures down to the basement and picks a fight over Prosper and Romeo’s recent battle with the television in the attic. They get caught by a vengeful spirit inside the washing machine, and…

S5E13 You're My Number One Baby

Nov 13, 2024 1h 29m

In the continuation of our campaign of Our Haunt, Jules visits the hungry flowers in the garden, Dale confesses his feelings, and Prosper and Romeo settle in front of the television.  Dungeons and…

S5E12 An Engine for Participatory Dramaturgy, with Mike Sell

Nov 06, 2024 1h 14m

Percy and Nick meet with Dr. Mike Sell, scholar of playful literatures, to discuss the ways that TTRPGs function to create participatory dramaturgies between the designers, GMs, players, and…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Dungeons + Drama Nerds have?

Dungeons + Drama Nerds has published 179 episodes since May 2020, covering topics in Arts, Games.

Is Dungeons + Drama Nerds still active?

Dungeons + Drama Nerds is currently dormant with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 55m.

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